Posted: Wednesday, September 9, 2015

The first installment of the Crick Lecture Series will be held Thursday, September 10, at 4 p.m. in Room 100, Koch Center for Engineering and Science. Garret Merriam associate professor of philosophy at the University of Southern Indiana will be the speaker. His topic will be "Neuromachean Ethics."

"There is a common view that science can only give us facts, and can say nothing about ethics or other value-laden fields." says Merriam. "This 'is/ought gap' faces new challenges from developments in neuroscience. Close study of the human brain is starting to reveal novel insights into the nature of how moral reasoning works, and what makes it break down.”

During his talk, says Merriam, he “will argue for three central claims. First, that science can indeed help us derive a (moral) ought from a (neural) is. Secondly, that the human brain is wired for pluralistic moral values, rather than absolute moral rules. And third, an Aristotelian ethics offers a promising but underappreciated framework from which to understand both the methods and the substance of neuroethics."

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