A drug to make us good?

摘要

In 2007, Paul Zak gathered 68 young men to play a game. Pairing them at random, he gave $10 to one person in each pair, which the recipient was instructed to split with his partner. The former could choose how much to offer. If the latter accepted, both men kept the cash. If not, they had to return it. This is the ultimatum game, a standard economics experiment. But Zak, a neuroeconomist, gave it a twist by dosing half his subjects with oxytocin. The difference was dramatic. Those who took a dose of the hormone were 80 per cent more generous than those who didn't. On the strength of this and other studies linking oxytocin with trust, oxytocin has been lauded as the "moral" chemical. Harris Wiseman is sceptical. He's also wary of morality claims for serotonin, dopamine and TMS, in which electricity is used to stimulate areas of the brain. In The Myth of the Moral Brain, he argues compellingly against "neuroprimacy" in ethics. "Moral functioning is travestied when approached primarily through biological lenses," he writes. Through his thoughtful critique of neuroscientific reductionism, he provides a foundation for understanding the complexities of moral action.