Articles by Father Thomas Berg
Morality and the Emerging Field of Moral Psychology
Apr 1, 2008 / 00:00 amIn my March 11th column I began an exploration of some of the postulates of the emerging field of moral psychology. I would like to finish those reflections here by offering a more extensive critique of a lengthy article that ran in the New York Times Magazine in January entitled "The Moral Instinct," authored by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker.
Eliminating down babies
Mar 25, 2008 / 00:00 amSomeone recently brought to my attention that Arthur Miller, thePulitzer-winning playwright, had a son named Daniel, born with Down Syndrome. Apparently, Miller sent Daniel to an institution and visited him rarely, if ever. He neither spoke about Daniel, nor did he mention him in his autobiography. It was almost as if Daniel didn’t exist for him.
When it is Reasonable to Say “No" to Unreason
Mar 18, 2008 / 00:00 amLast week I began a two-part column exploring and critiquing some of the postulates of the emerging field of 'neuromorality.' I will get back to that after Easter. I felt compelled to interrupt that topic, however, because I was so disturbed to hear that The Vagina Monologues would once again be presented (for a sixth year, in fact) at Notre Dame University. [I wish to note, however, that this is not altogether unrelated to the topic of how brain relates to morality.]
Introduction to "With Good Reason"
Mar 11, 2008 / 00:00 amCatholic News Agency is pleased to announce that it has added Fr. Thomas Berg, LC, as one of our featured weekly columnists. Fr. Berg’s column, “With Good Reason”, addresses a variety of issues at the intersection of ethics and culture. Here is how Fr. Berg describes his column, and why he calls it, “With Good Reason.”
Morality as Genetic Predispostion and Neurobiology
Mar 11, 2008 / 00:00 amWithin the intersecting disciplines of psychology, neurobiology, philosophy of mind, ethics, and cognitive science, a new field of inquiry has emerged of late. Although it goes by different names, including such recent coinages as 'neuromorality', the field is perhaps best referred to as moral psychology. I have touched on this topic in a previous column, but given the recent preponderance of media fixation on this topic, I thought it was time to take a closer look.