Kella Ortega

11141999

Reflection Paper on Moral Development and Neuroscience

Studying moral development made me feel enlightened and the new information I learned

helped me understand why the set of values I have do not transcend to or are not the same as everyone

else.

Reading on how a human's morality is developed made me realize many things. I realized that

there have been many people who have been wrongly incriminated for things that they have no control

over. For example, those who have Antisocial Personality Disorders are more prone to doing criminal

behavior not because they like to, but because their brains are wired to be more prone in committing

unlawful behavior. However, stating this, I do not believe that we should excuse a criminal act simply

because of the person's psychological disorder. I believe that instead of excusing such behavior, we

should find ways to prevent such behavior from appearing and, if ever the behavior arises before

prevention methods are applied, it should be addressed to in order for the chance of its reappearance to

decrease.

In order to accomplish this, I realized that there should not only be an effort to help those who

have brain damage that show physiological indications, but also those who have brain damage that

show behavioral symptoms. There have been many actions to help those who have damage in their

primary motor cortex; people who have epilepsy or other such conditions. This effort is admirable;

however, we should also give consideration and care to those who have psychological disorders like

schizophrenia, personality disorders, or mood disorders. People believe that problems involving the

physical conditions of people should be prioritized. However, psychological disorders are also life

threatening, not only to those who have them but also to those people who surround them. This is

enough reason to also put time and effort into helping those who experience psychological disorders.
 After processing the new information I learned, I was finally able to come into an understanding

of as to why I cannot find anyone who agrees with all the things I agree with and disagrees with

everything I disagree on. According to my research, the moral values of people root from the things that

they experience in life, especially during their childhoods. These values may alter over time; they even

alter during adulthood. As we learn these values, our brains develop. As it is almost impossible for

people to experience the same things all throughout their lives, then it is most probably biologically

impossible for there to be two similarly value-minded people in the world.