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THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EMOTION AND REASONING IN SOCIAL CONTEXTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR MORAL THEOLOGY
Author(s) -
SPEZIO MICHAEL L.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
modern theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.144
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1468-0025
pISSN - 0266-7177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0025.2010.01680.x
Subject(s) - passions , action (physics) , psychology , passion , affective science , relation (database) , rationality , epistemology , faith , social psychology , emotion work , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , database , computer science
The neuroscience of emotion and its relation to moral action is a critical area of engagement for deepening understanding of faith, rationality, and the passions. Moral philosophies and theologies often examine the function of passion in relation to reason and justification in moral action. Whether they find emotion to be an obstacle to or a constitutive part of justifiably rational or ethical decision making, the neuroscience of emotion and moral action should prove to be of interest. Here, after briefly motivating this interest (while avoiding psychologism), this article reviews the abundant evidence from lesion studies linking emotion to human reasoning, especially in contexts relevant for evaluation of one's own ends and those of others. After a brief consideration of dual process models, newly reintroduced into affective and social neuroscience, the article concludes by pointing to two active areas in these sciences that support an integrative view of emotion for reason.