Pfaff, D. The neuroscience of fair play

Title

Pfaff, D. The neuroscience of fair play

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Description

Donald W. Pfaff. The neuroscience of fair play: why we (usually) follow the Golden rule

Pfaff, the researcher who first discovered the connections between specific brain circuits and certain behaviors, contends that the basic ethics governing our everyday lives can be traced directly to brain circuitry. Writing with popular science journalist Sandra J. Ackerman, he explains in this clear and concise account how specific brain signals induce us to consider our actions as if they were directed at ourselves—and subsequently lead us to treat others as we wish to be treated. Brain hormones are a part of this complicated process, and The Neuroscience of Fair Play discusses how brain hormones can catalyze behaviors with moral implications in such areas as self-sacrifice, parental love, friendship, and violent aggression. Drawing on his own research and other recent studies in brain science, Pfaff offers a thought-provoking hypothesis for why certain ethical codes and ideas have remained constant across human societies and cultures throughout the world and over the centuries of history. An unprecedented and provocative investigation, The Neuroscience of Fair Play offers a new perspective on the increasingly important intersection of neuroscience and ethics. ~ Google Books

ISBN

9781932594270

Publication Date

2007

Publisher

Dana Press

City

New York

Keywords

neuropsychology, ethics

Comments

The Rockefeller University Library 3rd Floor Special Collections QP 360 P523 2007

Pfaff, D. The neuroscience of fair play

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