The Morality of Dual Mode Camera: Catholic Theological Perspectives on Joshua Greene’s Dual Process Theory of Moral Judgements
Published
May 12, 2022
Almetrics
Dimensions
Google Scholar
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Abstract
Recent research on the neuronal background of human decision-making, carried out by Joshua Greene, challenges various parts of traditional Christian ethics: the Principle of Double Effect, deontology and virtue ethics. The Principle of Double Effect is a standard principle used in bioethics and several other ethical fields. It is sometimes illustrated by two thought experiments, the Trolley dilemma and the Footbridge dilemma. Greene claims that “from a psychological point of view, the crucial difference between the Trolley dilemma and the Footbridge dilemma lies in the latter’s tendency to engage people’s emotions in a way that the former does not.” Moreover, he is convinced that Kant’s deontology is nothing more than rationalization of our tribal morality, whereas virtue ethics is a mere description of Aristotle’s tribal morality.
Although Greene’s experiments and positions have been reflected on in Protestant theological ethics, so far there has been virtually no response from the side of Catholic moral theology. In this article, it is argued that Greene’s experiments are compatible with Catholic moral tradition. They do not necessarily lead, on the one hand, to the subversion of either the Doctrine of Double Effect or deontological ethics. The means/side effect distinction, which is the essence of the Principle of Double Effect, may be evolutionarily conditioned, but this would only mean it is part of our nature.
Similarly, the utilitarianism proposed by Greene is no more impartial than ‘intuitive’ deontological judgement. In fact, the utilitarian analysis is often expected to be as impartial as the free market, but free markets are not always as free as liberal economists would like us to believe. Greene’s research, on the other hand, can help us understand better certain parts of our Catholic tradition, especially the need for a preferential option for the poor and for seeking truth through dialogue.
Keywords
Trolley Dilemma, Principle of Double Effect, Metamorality, Joshua Green, Dual Process Theory of Moral JudgementsDilema del tranvía, principio de doble efecto, metamoralidad, Joshua Green, teoría del proceso dual de los juicios morales
References
Aristotle. “Rhetoric.” Perseus, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Boyd, Craig A. “Neuroscience, the Trolley Problem, and Moral Virtue.” In Theology and the Science of Action: Virtue Ethics, Exemplarity, and Cognitive Neuroscience, edited by James A. Van Slyke, Gregory Peterson, Warren S. Brown, Kevin S. Reimer and Michael Spezio, 130-145. New York (NY): Routledge, 2012.
Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Burns & Oates, 2006.
_____. “Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis humanae.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Černý, David. The Principle of Double Effect. A History and Philosophical Defense. New York (NY): Routledge, 2020.
Churchland, Patricia. Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuitions. New York (NY): W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions.” Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitaspersonae_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Cushman, Fiery. “The Psychological Origins of the Doctrine of Double Effect.”Criminal Law and Philosophy 10 (2016): 763-776.
Francis. “Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.” Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Encyclical Letter Laudato si’.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclicalaudato-si.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Interview with Pope Francis for the Radio of the Archdiocese of Rio (27 July 2013).” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/july/documents/papa-francesco_20130727_gmg-intervista-radio.html
(accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Synod for the Family 2015. Introductory Remarks.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papafrancesco_20151005_padri-sinodali.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
German Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Church in Germany. “Für eine Zukunft in Solidarität und Gerechtigkeit.” DBK, https://www.dbkshop.de/media/files_public/0e1c6467b917b86a9fcd5768dcb2120b/DBK_69.pdf (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Gibea, Toni. “Does Experimental Ethics have a Normative Account?” Balkan Journal of Philosophy 18/1 (2016): 85-92.
Greene, Joshua. Moral Tribes. Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them. New York: The Penguin Press, 2013.
_____. “The Secret Joke of Kant’s Soul”. In Moral Psychology. Vol. 3: The Neuroscience of Morality: Emotion, Brain Disorders, and Development, edited by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, 35-104. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press, 2008.
Greene, Joshua, and Jonathan Cohen. “For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 359 (2004): 1775-1785.
Greene, Joshua, et al. “An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment.” Science 293 (2001): 2105-2108.
_____. “Pushing Moral Buttons. The Interaction between Personal Force and Intention in Moral Judgment.” Cognition 111/3 (2009): 364-371.
Gury, Jean-Pierre. Compendium Theologiae moralis. Vol 1. Romae: Typis Civilitatis Catholicae, 1866.
Haidt, Jonathan. Righteous Mind. Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. New York (NY): Pantheon Books, 2012.
Hildt, Elisabeth. “Gehirn, Moral und Ethik – wie ist der Zusammenhang?” Concilium 51/4 (2015): 435-442.
International Theological Commission. “Community and Stewardship. Human Persons Created in the Image of God.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “In Search of a Universal Ethic. A New Look at the Natural Law.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20090520_legge-naturale_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
John Paul II. “Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatissplendor.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Kahane, Guy. “Evolutionary Debunking Arguments.” Noûs 45/1 (2010): 103-125.
Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York (NY): Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2013.
Keenan, James F. “The Moral Agent. Actions and Normative Decision Making.” In A Call to Fidelity. On the Moral Theology of Charles E. Curran, edited by James J. Walter, 37-53. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2002.
Kelly, Conor M. “The Nature and Operation of Structural Sin. Additional Insights from Theology and Moral Psychology.” Theological studies 80/2 (2019): 293-327.
Kotowicz, Zbigniew. “The Strange Case of Phineas Gage.” History of the Human Sciences 20/1 (2007): 115-131.
Kovács, Gusztáv. Thought Experiments in Ethics. Pécs: Episcopal Theological College of Pécs, 2021.
Kraaijeveld, Steven R., and Hanno Sauer. “Metamorality without Moral Truth.”Neuroethics 12/2 (2019): 119-131.
Kumar, Victor, and Richmond Campbell. “On the Normative Significance of Experimental Moral Psychology.” Philosophical Psychology 25/3 (2012): 311-330.
Leo XIII. “Encyclical Letter Libertas.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_20061888_libertas.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Manfrinati, Andrea, et al. “Moral Dilemmas and Moral principles: When Emotion and Cognition Unite.” Cognition and Emotion 27/7 (2013): 1276-1291.
Mangan, Joseph T. “An Historical Analysis of the Principle of Double Effect.” Theological Studies 10/1 (1949): 41-61.
McIntyre, Alison. “Doctrine of Double Effect.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/double-effect (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Messer, Neil. Theological Neuroethics. Christian Ethics Meets the Science of the Human Brain. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017.
Mihailov, Emilian. “Is Deontology a Moral Confabulation?” Neuroethics 9 (2016): 1-13.
Moulton, Carroll. “Antiphon the Sophist, on Truth.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 103 (1972): 329-366.
Noldin, Hieronymus. Summa theologiae moralis. Vol. 1: De principiis. Ratisbonae: Pustet, 1936.
_____. Summa theologiae moralis. Vol. 2: De praeceptis. Ratisbonae: Pustet, 1935.
Ovečka, Libor. “Člověče, bylo ti oznámeno, co je dobré…”. Česká katolická morální teologie 1884-1948. Praha: Karolinum, 2011.
_____. “Dynamické pojetí přirozeného zákona a česká teologická traduce.” Studia theologica Czech Republic 13/4 (2011): 193-195.
Paul VI. “Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae.” Vatican http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Petrů, Marek. Fyziologie mysli. Úvod do kognitivní vědy. Praha: Triton, 2007.
Plato. “Gorgias”. Perseus, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Pölzler, Thomas. “Moral Judgments and Emotions: A Less Intimate Relationship Than Recently Claimed.” Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 35/3 (2015): 177-195.
Rojka, Ľuboš. “Variácie morálnej zodpovednosti.” Studia theologica Czech Republic 18/2 (2016): 135-154.
Rosenberger, Michael. Frei in Leben: Allgemeine Moraltheologie. Münster: Aschendorff, 2018.
Saint Thomas Aquinas. “Summa Theologiae.” New Advent, www.newadvent.org/summa/ (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Sandel, Michael. Justice. What’s The Right Thing to Do? London: Penguin Group, 2010.
Sauer, Hanno. “Morally Irrelevant Factors: What’s Left of the Dual Process-model of Moral Cognition?” Philosophical Psychology 25/6 (2012): 783-811.
Schleim, Stephan. “Auf der Suche nach der letzten Moral. Hirnforschung auf dem Weg von der helfenden Hand zur moralischen Autorität.” Concilium 51/4 (2015): 423-434.
Slavkovský, Reginald Adrián. Racionalita a ľudská kognícia. Trnava: FF TU, 2013.
Spezio, Michael L. “The Neuroscience of Emotion and Reasoning in Social Contexts. Implications for Moral Theology.” Modem Theology 27/2 (2011): 339-356.
Štica, Petr. “Globální solidarita v sociálním učení církve.” Cesty katecheze 4/3 (2012): 8-11.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Economic Justice for All. Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” USCCB, https://www.usccb.org/upload/economic_justice_for_all.pdf (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Valenzuela Osorio, Vicente. “Enfoques y postura crítica de la relación entre teología y neurociencias.” Theologica Xaveriana 68 (2018): 236-262.
Volek, Peter. Človek, svobodná vôľa a neurovědy. Ružomberok: Verbum, 2015.
Boyd, Craig A. “Neuroscience, the Trolley Problem, and Moral Virtue.” In Theology and the Science of Action: Virtue Ethics, Exemplarity, and Cognitive Neuroscience, edited by James A. Van Slyke, Gregory Peterson, Warren S. Brown, Kevin S. Reimer and Michael Spezio, 130-145. New York (NY): Routledge, 2012.
Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Burns & Oates, 2006.
_____. “Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis humanae.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Černý, David. The Principle of Double Effect. A History and Philosophical Defense. New York (NY): Routledge, 2020.
Churchland, Patricia. Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuitions. New York (NY): W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions.” Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20081208_dignitaspersonae_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Cushman, Fiery. “The Psychological Origins of the Doctrine of Double Effect.”Criminal Law and Philosophy 10 (2016): 763-776.
Francis. “Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.” Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Encyclical Letter Laudato si’.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclicalaudato-si.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Interview with Pope Francis for the Radio of the Archdiocese of Rio (27 July 2013).” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2013/july/documents/papa-francesco_20130727_gmg-intervista-radio.html
(accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Synod for the Family 2015. Introductory Remarks.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papafrancesco_20151005_padri-sinodali.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
German Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Church in Germany. “Für eine Zukunft in Solidarität und Gerechtigkeit.” DBK, https://www.dbkshop.de/media/files_public/0e1c6467b917b86a9fcd5768dcb2120b/DBK_69.pdf (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Gibea, Toni. “Does Experimental Ethics have a Normative Account?” Balkan Journal of Philosophy 18/1 (2016): 85-92.
Greene, Joshua. Moral Tribes. Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them. New York: The Penguin Press, 2013.
_____. “The Secret Joke of Kant’s Soul”. In Moral Psychology. Vol. 3: The Neuroscience of Morality: Emotion, Brain Disorders, and Development, edited by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, 35-104. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press, 2008.
Greene, Joshua, and Jonathan Cohen. “For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 359 (2004): 1775-1785.
Greene, Joshua, et al. “An fMRI Investigation of Emotional Engagement in Moral Judgment.” Science 293 (2001): 2105-2108.
_____. “Pushing Moral Buttons. The Interaction between Personal Force and Intention in Moral Judgment.” Cognition 111/3 (2009): 364-371.
Gury, Jean-Pierre. Compendium Theologiae moralis. Vol 1. Romae: Typis Civilitatis Catholicae, 1866.
Haidt, Jonathan. Righteous Mind. Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. New York (NY): Pantheon Books, 2012.
Hildt, Elisabeth. “Gehirn, Moral und Ethik – wie ist der Zusammenhang?” Concilium 51/4 (2015): 435-442.
International Theological Commission. “Community and Stewardship. Human Persons Created in the Image of God.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “In Search of a Universal Ethic. A New Look at the Natural Law.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20090520_legge-naturale_en.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
John Paul II. “Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
_____. “Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatissplendor.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Kahane, Guy. “Evolutionary Debunking Arguments.” Noûs 45/1 (2010): 103-125.
Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York (NY): Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2013.
Keenan, James F. “The Moral Agent. Actions and Normative Decision Making.” In A Call to Fidelity. On the Moral Theology of Charles E. Curran, edited by James J. Walter, 37-53. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2002.
Kelly, Conor M. “The Nature and Operation of Structural Sin. Additional Insights from Theology and Moral Psychology.” Theological studies 80/2 (2019): 293-327.
Kotowicz, Zbigniew. “The Strange Case of Phineas Gage.” History of the Human Sciences 20/1 (2007): 115-131.
Kovács, Gusztáv. Thought Experiments in Ethics. Pécs: Episcopal Theological College of Pécs, 2021.
Kraaijeveld, Steven R., and Hanno Sauer. “Metamorality without Moral Truth.”Neuroethics 12/2 (2019): 119-131.
Kumar, Victor, and Richmond Campbell. “On the Normative Significance of Experimental Moral Psychology.” Philosophical Psychology 25/3 (2012): 311-330.
Leo XIII. “Encyclical Letter Libertas.” Vatican, http://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_20061888_libertas.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Manfrinati, Andrea, et al. “Moral Dilemmas and Moral principles: When Emotion and Cognition Unite.” Cognition and Emotion 27/7 (2013): 1276-1291.
Mangan, Joseph T. “An Historical Analysis of the Principle of Double Effect.” Theological Studies 10/1 (1949): 41-61.
McIntyre, Alison. “Doctrine of Double Effect.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/double-effect (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Messer, Neil. Theological Neuroethics. Christian Ethics Meets the Science of the Human Brain. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017.
Mihailov, Emilian. “Is Deontology a Moral Confabulation?” Neuroethics 9 (2016): 1-13.
Moulton, Carroll. “Antiphon the Sophist, on Truth.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 103 (1972): 329-366.
Noldin, Hieronymus. Summa theologiae moralis. Vol. 1: De principiis. Ratisbonae: Pustet, 1936.
_____. Summa theologiae moralis. Vol. 2: De praeceptis. Ratisbonae: Pustet, 1935.
Ovečka, Libor. “Člověče, bylo ti oznámeno, co je dobré…”. Česká katolická morální teologie 1884-1948. Praha: Karolinum, 2011.
_____. “Dynamické pojetí přirozeného zákona a česká teologická traduce.” Studia theologica Czech Republic 13/4 (2011): 193-195.
Paul VI. “Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae.” Vatican http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Petrů, Marek. Fyziologie mysli. Úvod do kognitivní vědy. Praha: Triton, 2007.
Plato. “Gorgias”. Perseus, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Pölzler, Thomas. “Moral Judgments and Emotions: A Less Intimate Relationship Than Recently Claimed.” Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 35/3 (2015): 177-195.
Rojka, Ľuboš. “Variácie morálnej zodpovednosti.” Studia theologica Czech Republic 18/2 (2016): 135-154.
Rosenberger, Michael. Frei in Leben: Allgemeine Moraltheologie. Münster: Aschendorff, 2018.
Saint Thomas Aquinas. “Summa Theologiae.” New Advent, www.newadvent.org/summa/ (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Sandel, Michael. Justice. What’s The Right Thing to Do? London: Penguin Group, 2010.
Sauer, Hanno. “Morally Irrelevant Factors: What’s Left of the Dual Process-model of Moral Cognition?” Philosophical Psychology 25/6 (2012): 783-811.
Schleim, Stephan. “Auf der Suche nach der letzten Moral. Hirnforschung auf dem Weg von der helfenden Hand zur moralischen Autorität.” Concilium 51/4 (2015): 423-434.
Slavkovský, Reginald Adrián. Racionalita a ľudská kognícia. Trnava: FF TU, 2013.
Spezio, Michael L. “The Neuroscience of Emotion and Reasoning in Social Contexts. Implications for Moral Theology.” Modem Theology 27/2 (2011): 339-356.
Štica, Petr. “Globální solidarita v sociálním učení církve.” Cesty katecheze 4/3 (2012): 8-11.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Economic Justice for All. Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy.” USCCB, https://www.usccb.org/upload/economic_justice_for_all.pdf (accessed on January 9, 2021).
Valenzuela Osorio, Vicente. “Enfoques y postura crítica de la relación entre teología y neurociencias.” Theologica Xaveriana 68 (2018): 236-262.
Volek, Peter. Človek, svobodná vôľa a neurovědy. Ružomberok: Verbum, 2015.
How to Cite
Opatrný, D. . (2022). The Morality of Dual Mode Camera: Catholic Theological Perspectives on Joshua Greene’s Dual Process Theory of Moral Judgements. Theologica Xaveriana, 72. https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.tx72.mdmcct
Issue
Section
Artículos
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.