Tag: ethics

Politics, Economics, Cognitive Science and Ethics

I’ve been thinking recently about relationship between politics and economic policies on the one hand, and what we know about human psychology and the causes of human behavior on the other. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how the knowledge which we learn from research in the cognitive sciences is too often neglected, distorted, or…

Should we erase our memories?

Imagine we live in a world where you can go to a clinic and choose to have certain memories wiped away, erased forever. Think of all the terrible memories you have accumulated in your life, and about the prospect of them never being able to force themselves on your consciousness ever again. Would you go…

What can science tell us about morality?

There is a famous philosophical thought experiment created by Peter Singer that goes something like this; you are walking down the street and you see a small child drowning in a shallow pond. You can jump in and save the child easily, but in the process you will ruin your $500 suit. Any sane person would say it is your moral obligation to save this child…D8XDSZ2RPQNZ