Problematizing the Validity of Neurethics and Moral Treatment: Brain Text as a New Humanistic Approach to Moral Education

• Main Authors: Jia, Yanyan, Chen, Houliang
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: brain text; ethical literary criticism; neuroethics; moral education
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss37/23; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1894/viewcontent/KK_2037_2C_202021_2023_20Forum_20Kritika_20on_20Ethical_20Literary_20Criticism_2C_20Brain_20Text_20and_20New_20Readings_20of_20World_20Literature_20__20Jia_2C_20Chen.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

With the advancements in neuroscience and technology, the neurocognitive approach to the human brain seems to outrun the traditional humanistic approach to moral studies, while its demystification and biological reduction of morality is also questionable, particularly, its implicative suggestion for moral treatment. Contrastingly, ethical literary criticism, especially the brain text theory proposed by Zhenzhao Nie, enlightens us with a new approach to moral education. Essentially different from the clinical moral treatment advocated by neuroethics, ethical literary criticism does not diagnose a particular reader as a “moral patient” in advance, but instead thinks it necessary for all people to get good moral instruction so as to make better ethical choices in everyday life. It advocates the use of good works to improve the moral sense of readers, while it still believes that readers are free subjects who can choose books they like to read, rather than morally weak patients who need to be cured by medicines or operation as neuroscientists do. By emphasizing on the moral teaching function of literature to guide people to the morally credible way of life, Nie’s brain text theory expresses clearly its moral stand and serves as a new humanistic approach to moral education.