Neuroscience studies how the brain works and what is the structure of the brain. It is important to understand the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry of the brain, and to correlate them with the behavior. Despite that, neuroscience still provides no cues on how the conscious actually emerges in the brain. Different disciplines are emerged based on the neuroscience: one of them is neuroethics.
Neuroethics is a modern field of science where ethics and neuroscience are studying together. There is no particular “ethical region” in the brain, though (American Psychological Association, 2017). Instead, there are certain patterns in the brain connected with different kinds of ethical behavior, and neuroscience can help in exploring it. Neuroethics learns how to use tools affecting brain and mind directly, such as psychoactive substances and devices with direct brain stimulation.
Another possible interpretation of the term “neuroethics” is the “ethics of neuroscience”. In this meaning, neuroethics studies the ethical basis of brain science. The ethics is always based on facts, and in the case of neuroethics, it raises questions about how to use tools and instruments of neuroscience, which consequences can follow from this usage, how to interpret the data of neuroscience (American Psychological Association, 2017). It provides an ethical norms and decision in the brain studies, ensuring that it will be no sufferings during those studies and that the results of them will be beneficial.
The main points are summarized in this list:
- Neuroscience is important with all psychological and psychiatry fields, as it provides tools for measuring and exploring the brain.
- Neuroscience allows to understand some of the levels of causality of how the brain works, but not the others. It is the one possible way to address the mind-brain and mind-body problem, some of its models are working and practical, but they are still only models.
- Neuroethics have two possible meanings: “the neuroscience of ethics” and “the ethics of neuroscience”. Both of them should be used simultaneously by those who study it, to be sure that all advances in neuroethics will be ethically correct and acceptable.
- The main topics of neuroethics are: the usage of brain devices and psychoactive substances, the modifications of the brain, ethical issues of abolishing the pain and expanding the cognitive abilities.
Reference
American Psychological Association. (2017). Neuroethics: Addressing the good, bad and the ugly – application of neuroscience [Video]. YouTube. Web.