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SUMMARY:Is Empathy Important for Morality?  - Prof. Jesse Prinz (Philosoph
 y\, City University of New York) &amp\; Prof. Molly Crockett (Neuroscience
 \, University of Oxford)\, Chaired by Dr. Simone Schnall (Psychology\, Uni
 versity of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20150209T140000Z
DTEND:20150209T153000Z
UID:TALK57881@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Gabriela Pavarini
DESCRIPTION:Empathy is widely and increasingly heralded as an essential in
 gredient of morality. It is said to be necessary for moral development\, m
 oral motivation\, and even for comprehending the moral domain. But is empa
 thy really important for morality? Prof Jesse Prinz and Prof Molly Crocket
 t will address these claims and engage in a discussion and Q&A session. Pr
 of Prinz argues that empathy is in fact not necessary for morality\, and i
 t may even be harmful. Because empathy can bias us towards our near and de
 ar\, and blind us to demands of justice\, we should look beyond empathy in
  developing recommendations about how to instill moral competence and enco
 urage moral commitment. For Prof Crockett\, answering the question of whet
 her empathy is necessary to morality has been difficult due to the limitat
 ions of methods for measuring morality in the lab. Most research on human 
 morality has relied on hypothetical judgments but there is evidence that h
 ypothetical judgments are poor predictors of real moral decisions. In her 
 talk she will describe newly developed methods for quantifying morality in
  the lab and present the results of a series of behavioral experiments inv
 estigating how people disvalue the pain of strangers relative to their own
  pain. These studies provide empirical data bearing on the question of whe
 ther empathy is important and necessary for morality.\n\nAbout the present
 ers:\n\nProf. Jesse J. Prinz is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy an
 d director of the Committee for Interdisciplinary Science Studies at the C
 ity University of New York. He has published over 100 articles on several 
 topics in moral psychology\, philosophy\, and consciousness. His books inc
 lude The Conscious Brain\, Beyond Human Nature\, and many others. A leadin
 g advocate of empirical approaches to philosophical questions\, Prof Prinz
  emphasizes the role of culture and emotion in shaping human morals.\n\nPr
 of. Molly Crockett is an Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology at
  the University of Oxford. Her pioneering work on the neural basis of altr
 uism and morality has been published in top journals including Science and
  PNAS\, and has been covered by the New York Times\, BBC\, Scientific Amer
 ican\, and others. Prof Crockett is intrigued by how individuals reconcile
  multiple conflicting motives in moral decision-making\, and how neuroscie
 nce can help individuals make better decisions. \n\nWe're organising indiv
 idual meetings for the speakers during the day\, so if you'd like to meet 
 either of them on the day\, please feel free to sign up using this doodle 
 form (don't forget to leave a comment!): \nProf Jesse Prinz: http://doodle
 .com/afu33p7h9tcph8bu.\nProf Molly Crockett: http://doodle.com/sm3ydx7h43w
 t4c93. \n
LOCATION:Room SG1 (Ground Floor)\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road
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