2014/06/01 by Neil Levy, Thomas Douglas, Guy Kahane +4 · 58 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations #Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Warrant #Psychology #Unintended consequences #Moral disengagement #Cognition #Social psychology #Political science #Psychiatry #Business #Law
paper · pdf · doi:10.1353/ppp.2014.0023
published in Philosophy, psychiatry & psychology 21(2), 111-125 (Johns Hopkins University Press)
openalex publication_date 2014/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
A number of concerns have been raised about the possible future use of pharmaceuticals designed to enhance cognitive, affective, and motivational processes, particularly where the aim is to produce morally better decisions or behavior. In this article, we draw attention to what is arguably a more worrying possibility: that pharmaceuticals currently in widespread therapeutic use are already having unintended effects on these processes, and thus on moral decision making and morally significant behavior. We review current evidence on the moral effects of three widely used drugs or drug types: (i) propranolol, (ii) selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and (iii) drugs that effect oxytocin physiology. This evidence suggests that the alterations to moral decision making and behavior caused by these agents may have important and difficult-to-evaluate consequences, at least at the population level. We argue that the moral effects of these and other widely used pharmaceuticals warrant further empirical research and ethical analysis.