The Cognitive Neuroscience of Moral Judgment

Abstract

This article reviews recent advances in the cognitive neuroscience of moral judgment. The field began with studies of individuals who exhibit abnormal moral behavior, including neurological patients and psychopaths. Such studies continue to provide valuable insights, particularly concerning the role of emotion in moral decision making. Recent functional neuroimaging studies of normal individuals have identified neural correlates of specific emotional processes relevant to moral judgment. A range of studies using diverse methods support a dual-process theory of moral judgment according to which utilitarian moral judgments (favoring the “greater good” over individual rights) are enabled by controlled cognitive processes, while deontological judgments (favoring individual rights) are driven by intuitive emotional responses. Several recent neuroimaging studies focus on the neural bases of mental state attribution in the context of moral judgment. Finally, research in the field of neuroeconomics has focused on neural processing related to cooperation, trust, and fairness.