Most of the neuroethics literature is written by neuroscientists, but now Cambridge University Press has published a book on neuroethics by philosopher Neil Levy: Neuroethics. Challenges for the 21st Century. Philosophers are famously opposed to anything coming from the neurosciences so it will interesting to see what Levy has to say! Actually, Levy has for some time posted on Adam Kolber’s great Neuroethics and Law blog, so some of his views will already be know to many.
Last November Levy was interviewed on The Philosopher’s Stone at ABC Radio National. I can’t find the audiofile for that interview – leave a message in the comments if you can – but here’s a transcript of it.
-Martin
> Philosophers are famously opposed to anything coming from the neurosciences
only continental philosophers are that ornery
As the word neuroethics coined by Safire intent to mean: neuroethics is the conjoint efforts of philosophers (ethics) and neuroscientists (neuro hyphenation) to deal with phenomena related to the enhancement or tratment of the human brain (also the neuroscience of ethics [Roskies 2005] and not only the ethics of neuroscience).
I think neuroscience in this matters cannot progress without the help of philosophers like Neil Levy, not only because they can pose the adequate questions in experimental tests and conceptual clarification but also because traditionally the issues now treated by philosophers and neuroscientists alike were once the province of philosophy exclusively (the mother of all sciences).