Conscience
The Origins of Moral Intuition
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Conscience
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Suzie Althens
About this listen
In Conscience, Patricia S. Churchland, the distinguished founder of neurophilosophy, explores how moral systems arise from our physical selves in combination with environmental demands.
All social groups have ideals for behavior, even though ethics vary among different cultures and among individuals within each culture. In trying to understand why, Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of nature and nurture. She looks to evolution to elucidate how, from birth, our brains are configured to form bonds, to cooperate, and to care. Conscience delves into scientific studies, particularly the fascinating work on twins, to deepen our understanding of whether people have a predisposition to embrace specific ethical stands. Research on psychopaths illuminates the knowledge about those who abide by no moral system and the explanations science gives for these disturbing individuals.
Churchland then turns to philosophy - that of Socrates, Aquinas, and contemporary thinkers like Owen Flanagan - to explore why morality is central to all societies, how it is transmitted through the generations, and why different cultures live by different morals. Her unparalleled ability to join ideas rarely put into dialogue brings light to a subject that speaks to the meaning of being human.
©2019 Patricia S. Churchland (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Touching a Nerve
- The Self as Brain
- By: Patricia S. Churchland
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
What happens when we accept that everything we feel and think stems not from an immaterial spirit but from electrical and chemical activity in our brains? In this thought-provoking narrative - drawn from professional expertise as well as personal life experiences - trailblazing neurophilosopher Patricia S. Churchland grounds the philosophy of mind in the essential ingredients of biology. She reflects with humor on how she came to harmonize science and philosophy, the mind and the brain, abstract ideals and daily life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Joining The Ranks...
- By Douglas on 01-25-14
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 868
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 776
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 776
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Liberalism and Its Discontents
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
It's no secret that liberalism didn't always live up to its own ideals. In America, many people were denied equality before the law. Who counted as full human beings worthy of universal rights was contested for centuries, and only recently has this circle expanded to include women, African Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and others. Conservatives complain that liberalism empties the common life of meaning. As Francis Fukuyama shows in Liberalism and Its Discontents, the principles of liberalism have also, in recent decades, been pushed to new extremes by both the right and the left.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
For those who haven’t given up yet.
- By DMax on 09-29-22
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Rationality
- What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 928
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 913
In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Steven Pinker's Frozen Worldview from the 90s
- By Ryan Booth on 11-12-21
By: Steven Pinker
-
Transformer
- The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 196
For decades, biology has been dominated by the study of genetic information. Information is important, but it is only part of what makes us alive. Our inheritance also includes our living metabolic network, a flame passed from generation to generation, right back to the origin of life. In Transformer, biochemist Nick Lane reveals a scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight-how the same simple chemistry gives rise to life and causes our demise.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You need lot of chemistry to get it
- By 11104 on 09-05-22
By: Nick Lane
-
Kinds of Minds
- Toward an Understanding of Consciousness
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Combining ideas from philosophy, artificial intelligence, and neurobiology, Daniel Dennett leads the listener on a fascinating journey of inquiry, exploring such intriguing possibilities as: Can any of us really know what is going on in someone else's mind? What distinguishes the human mind from the minds of animals, especially those capable of complex behavior? If such animals, for instance, were magically given the power of language, would their communities evolve an intelligence as subtly discriminating as ours?
-
Touching a Nerve
- The Self as Brain
- By: Patricia S. Churchland
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
What happens when we accept that everything we feel and think stems not from an immaterial spirit but from electrical and chemical activity in our brains? In this thought-provoking narrative - drawn from professional expertise as well as personal life experiences - trailblazing neurophilosopher Patricia S. Churchland grounds the philosophy of mind in the essential ingredients of biology. She reflects with humor on how she came to harmonize science and philosophy, the mind and the brain, abstract ideals and daily life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Joining The Ranks...
- By Douglas on 01-25-14
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 868
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 776
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 776
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
Liberalism and Its Discontents
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
It's no secret that liberalism didn't always live up to its own ideals. In America, many people were denied equality before the law. Who counted as full human beings worthy of universal rights was contested for centuries, and only recently has this circle expanded to include women, African Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and others. Conservatives complain that liberalism empties the common life of meaning. As Francis Fukuyama shows in Liberalism and Its Discontents, the principles of liberalism have also, in recent decades, been pushed to new extremes by both the right and the left.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
For those who haven’t given up yet.
- By DMax on 09-29-22
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
Rationality
- What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 928
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 913
In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Steven Pinker's Frozen Worldview from the 90s
- By Ryan Booth on 11-12-21
By: Steven Pinker
-
Transformer
- The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death
- By: Nick Lane
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 196
For decades, biology has been dominated by the study of genetic information. Information is important, but it is only part of what makes us alive. Our inheritance also includes our living metabolic network, a flame passed from generation to generation, right back to the origin of life. In Transformer, biochemist Nick Lane reveals a scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight-how the same simple chemistry gives rise to life and causes our demise.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You need lot of chemistry to get it
- By 11104 on 09-05-22
By: Nick Lane
-
Kinds of Minds
- Toward an Understanding of Consciousness
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Combining ideas from philosophy, artificial intelligence, and neurobiology, Daniel Dennett leads the listener on a fascinating journey of inquiry, exploring such intriguing possibilities as: Can any of us really know what is going on in someone else's mind? What distinguishes the human mind from the minds of animals, especially those capable of complex behavior? If such animals, for instance, were magically given the power of language, would their communities evolve an intelligence as subtly discriminating as ours?
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
Existential Physics
- A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
- By: Sabine Hossenfelder
- Narrated by: Gina Daniels
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 419
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 364
Not only can we not currently explain the origin of the universe, it is questionable we will ever be able to explain it. The notion that there are universes within particles, or that particles are conscious, is ascientific, as is the hypothesis that our universe is a computer simulation. On the other hand, the idea that the universe itself is conscious is difficult to rule out entirely.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Unscientific and unengaging
- By Jase G on 03-29-23
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,951
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,560
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,482
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Just Babies
- The Origins of Good and Evil
- By: Paul Bloom
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 259
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone. From John Locke to Sigmund Freud, philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
What the he!! do babies know?
- By CBlox on 11-19-13
By: Paul Bloom
-
Lost in Math
- How Beauty Leads Physics Astray
- By: Sabine Hossenfelder
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,014
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 867
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 858
Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: Observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A rare glimpse into the inner world of physics
- By Joe on 12-08-18
-
The Big Myth
- How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
In the early 20th century, business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies set out to build a new American orthodoxy: down with 'big government' and up with unfettered markets. With startling archival evidence, Oreskes and Conway document campaigns to rewrite textbooks, combat unions, and defend child labor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Refuting the Chicago School
- By Todd W. Laveen on 06-01-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
-
Grand Transitions
- How the Modern World Was Made
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
What makes the modern world work? The answer to this deceptively simple question lies in four "grand transitions" of civilization - in populations, agriculture, energy, and economics - that have transformed the way we live.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Nihil novum sub soli
- By Sam J. on 08-29-22
By: Vaclav Smil
-
Behave
- The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
- By: Robert Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Michael Goldstrom
- Length: 26 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,003
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,374
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,342
From the celebrated neurobiologist and primatologist, a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior, both good and bad, and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: He starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs, and then hops back in time from there, in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Insightful
- By Doug Hay on 07-27-17
By: Robert Sapolsky
-
The Mind Illuminated
- A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science
- By: Culadasa John Yates PhD, Matthew Immergut PhD, Jeremy Graves
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 441
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 365
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
The Mind Illuminated is the first how-to meditation guide from a neuroscientist who is also an acclaimed meditation master. This innovative book offers a 10-stage program that is deeply grounded in ancient spiritual teachings about mindfulness and holistic health and also draws from the latest brain science to provide a road map for anyone interested in achieving the benefits of mindfulness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant mediation guide!
- By Emil on 06-02-17
By: Culadasa John Yates PhD, and others
-
Freedom Evolves
- By: Daniel C. Dennett
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 136
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Can there be freedom and free will in a deterministic world? Renowned philosopher Daniel Dennett emphatically answers "yes!" Using an array of provocative formulations, Dennett sets out to show how we alone among the animals have evolved minds that give us free will and morality. Weaving a richly detailed narrative, Dennett explains in a series of strikingly original arguments - drawing upon evolutionary biology, cognitive neuroscience, economics, and philosophy - that far from being an enemy of traditional explorations of freedom, morality, and meaning, the evolutionary perspective can be an indispensable ally.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I knew I was going to like this book
- By Gary on 05-30-14
-
Physical Intelligence
- The Science of How the Body and the Mind Guide Each Other Through Life
- By: Scott Grafton
- Narrated by: Jack Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
Elegantly written and deeply grounded in personal experience - works by Oliver Sacks come to mind - Physical Intelligence gives us a clear, illuminating examination of the intricate, mutually responsive relationship between the mind and the body as they engage (or don’t engage) in all manner of physical action. Ever wonder why you don’t walk into walls or off cliffs? How you decide if you can drive through a snowstorm? How high you are willing to climb up a ladder to change a lightbulb?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tales of Bears, Monkeys, Hominids, Neuroscience
- By Christy S. Redenbach on 01-15-20
By: Scott Grafton
-
Models of the Mind
- How Physics, Engineering and Mathematics Have Shaped Our Understanding of the Brain
- By: Grace Lindsay
- Narrated by: Wendy Tremont King
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
The brain is made up of 85 billion neurons, which are connected by over 100 trillion synapses. For over a century, a diverse array of researchers have been trying to find a language that can be used to capture the essence of what these neurons do and how they communicate - and how those communications create thoughts, perceptions, and actions. The language they were looking for was mathematics, and we would not be able to understand the brain as we do today without it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unique take on neuroscience
- By chris boutte on 09-14-21
By: Grace Lindsay
Made me think
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Started out well
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
nails on chalkboard fans!!!!.....
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.