From University College London: Models of morality

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23845564

Trends Cogn Sci. 2013 Aug;17(8):363-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2013.06.005. Epub 2013 Jul 8.

Models of morality.

Crockett MJ.

Source

Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Electronic address: molly.crockett@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

Moral dilemmas engender conflicts between two traditions: consequentialism, which evaluates actions based on their outcomes, and deontology, which evaluates actions themselves. These strikingly resemble two distinct decision-making architectures: a model-based system that selects actions based on inferences about their consequences; and a model-free system that selects actions based on their reinforcement history. Here, I consider how these systems, along with a Pavlovian system that responds reflexively to rewards and punishments, can illuminate puzzles in moral psychology.