Where is the line between instinct and free will in humans? How far can technology and medicine go to manipulate the brain? This book looks at neuroethics, exploring six broad areas - free will, moral responsibility, and legal responsibility; psychopharmacology; and brain injury and brain death.
Exploring the soul as a psychophysical process, this book delves into its significance in mental representation and agency. Authors Grant Gillett and Walter Glannon merge contemporary neuroscience with philosophical insights, drawing on Aristotle's hylomorphism to present a dynamic view of the brain. They argue that the soul is shaped by biological, social, and cultural influences, offering a nuanced understanding that emphasizes its role in adaptive behavior rather than reducing it to mere neurological functions.
This Element considers the potential benefit and harm from vaccines against addiction and viruses, immunotherapy for cancer, neuro-immunomodulating drugs to prevent or treat neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, and gene editing of immunity to enable xenotransplantation and prevent infectious disease.