Decisions and emotions vs. conscience. Contribution of neuroscience

Abstract

We live therefore we make decisions. From small daily choices of low complexity in the decision-making process, to decisions that involve our entire future life (both temporal and eternal). There are decisions, such as life-and-death choices, in which we put the entire essence of our existence on the line. Health professionals very often confront people with situations that require highly delicate choices and at the same time call for commitment and a kind of enlightenment of all their inner strength. This is because the moral tradition has it that the ability to make the right decisions is not merely the result of rational reasoning or the motivations that drive people to act. The need to engage in the best possible way in the decision-making process revealed on the level of the mission of health care professionals, puts forward the demand, on the one hand, to rethink the process of formation and ethical education in order to seek a deeper formation of conscience, and on the other hand, is what leads to the question of the status quaestionis of the nature of moral judgments in the light of scientific research in neuroscience and moral psychology. This article will attempt to answer questions concerning: the structure of a decision-making process (1), the role of conscience and emotion in decision-making (2) and the influence of neuroscience on moral theology and philosophical ethics. In presenting the content from the point of view of the methodology of the theological sciences (moral theology) and the humanities (philosophical ethics), the author of the article uses the achievements of the medical sciences (neuroscience) and the social sciences (psychology), which is part of the inter- and transdisciplinarity of the research conducted.