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Moral Dysfunction: Theoretical Model and Potential Neurosurgical Treatments

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Book cover The Moral Brain

Darwin developed the idea that morality might be an evolutionary byproduct of warfare, even though in his typical prudent style he did not state it that clearly. In his Descent of Men he wrote that “In order that primeval men, or the ape-like progenitors of man, should become social, they must have acquired the same instinctive feelings, which impel other animals to live in a body… They would have felt uneasy when separated from their comrades, for whom they would have felt some degree of love; they would have warned each other of danger, and have given mutual aid in attack or defence….When two tribes….came into competition, if….the one tribe included a great number of courageous, sympathetic and faithful members, who were always ready to warn each other of danger, to aid and defend each other, this tribe would succeed better and conquer the other .”

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BRAI2N & Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Dirk De Ridder & Tomas Menovsky

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Berthold Langguth

  3. BRAI2N & Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium

    Mark Plazier

Authors
  1. Dirk De Ridder
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  2. Berthold Langguth
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  3. Mark Plazier
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  4. Tomas Menovsky
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dirk De Ridder .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, Gent, 9000, Belgium

    Jan Verplaetse

  2. Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, Gent, 9000, Belgium

    Jelle Schrijver

  3. Dept. Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, Edegem, 2650, Belgium

    Sven Vanneste

  4. Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, Gent, 9000, Belgium

    Johan Braeckman

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De Ridder, D., Langguth, B., Plazier, M., Menovsky, T. (2009). Moral Dysfunction: Theoretical Model and Potential Neurosurgical Treatments. In: Verplaetse, J., Schrijver, J., Vanneste, S., Braeckman, J. (eds) The Moral Brain. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6287-2_7

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