Abstract
In this introduction to the section on the development and history of neuroethics, we describe several distinct visions of this area of inquiry and its evolution. Accordingly, the following four chapters provide contrasting accounts of neuroethics and its foundations, including in-depth discussions about the merits of its existence, and detailed accounts of the key issues that have driven its development.
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Albert Jonsen once told a group of scholars at Stanford University that neuroethics should be renamed “encephaloethics” (Jonsen 2008). The scholars had been assembled by our friend and colleague Judy Illes to discuss the ethics of fMRI-based detection of consciousness, a topic which Jonsen traced back to early debates about brain death in the 1950s. He suggested that encephalon (from the Ancient Greek ένκέφαλος, meaning literally what is in one’s head) was more precise than the term “neuro” (from the Ancient Greek νεũρoν, designating nerves). In his opinion, these debates about brain death marked the beginning of modern discussions about the philosophical and ethical significance of the brain with respect to issues such as death, organ donation, consciousness, and the meaning of life.
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Racine, E., Aspler, J. (2017). Section Introduction: Development and History of Neuroethics. In: Racine, E., Aspler, J. (eds) Debates About Neuroethics. Advances in Neuroethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54651-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54651-3_1
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