Going Beyond the Code of Ethics to develop a new theory of Neuro-Ethics. A talk by Dr. Garry Corbett and Val Lougheed at the 2019 VRA Canada Conference in Halifax Nova Scotia, Friday May 31st, 2019

4. www.slideshare.net/vlougheed
#beyondthecode

5. Rated PG-113
People Strongly Cautioned!
May contain bad language, brief nudity,
sexual overtones, and drug usage.

13. Deontology
Utilitarianism
Virtue Ethics
Feminist Ethics Stoicism Intuitive Ethics
Hedonism Epicureanism Kantianism
Divine Command Discourse Ethics
Role Ethics
Anachrist Ethics Evolutionary Ethics
Situation Ethics
Positive Ethics

15. CONSEQUENTIAL ETHICS
• Doing what is good
• Avoiding what is harmful
• Making good moral judgements

17. VIRTUE ETHICS
• What kind of person do I want to
be?
• What kind of character do I want to
have?

19. NEURO-ETHICS
- Actions and their consequence
- Character
- Align with our neurobiological
systems

20. SIX CORE ETHICAL VALUES

23. BENEFICENCE

30. OUR ROLE
To empower and ‘equip’
people to act effectively
in a spirit of self-
reliance.
Hope, Timmel & Hodzi (1984)

31. NEUROSCIENCE

32. PRIMARY PHYSICAL
NEEDS
Food
Water
Sleep
Shelter
Safety
Sex

33. Threats

34. NEUROBIOLOGICAL
RESPONSE

35. Flight

36. Fight

37. Freeze

38. Rewards

40. SOCIAL
NEUROSCIENCE

41. PRIMARY
SOCIAL NEEDS

42. SCARF NEEDS
• Status– To feel important
• Certainty– A sense of what is going to happen in the future
• Autonomy – A sense of control over events and things happening
to us
• Relatedness– A sense of safety with others, and knowing who
is a friend and who is a foe
• Fairness– A perception of fair exchanges between ourselves and
other people
Rock (2008)

43. Threats

44. NEUROBIOLOGICAL
RESPONSE

45. AVOIDANCE
RESPONSE• Demotivated
• Disengaged
• Stressed Out
• Argumentative
• Unco-operative
• Reduced Cognitive Capacity
• Fuzzy thinking
• Poor decision-making
• Reduced ability to problem solve

46. Rewards

47. APPROACH RESPONSE
• Motivated
• Engaged
• Calm
• Co-operative
• Increased Cognitive
Capacity
• Clear-Minded
• Good decision-making
• Increased ability to problem solve

48. DEFAULT SYSTEM
AVOIDANCE
RESPONSE

49. ‘SYSTEM-SPEAK’ FOR
AVOIDANCE RESPONSE
 Unmotivated
 Non-Compliant
 Malingering
 Aggressive
 Angry…

51. ALIGNMENT BETWEEN OUR
CODE OF ETHICS AND
SCARF NEEDS
Autonomy – Autonomy
Non-Maleficence – Relatedness, Fairness
Beneficence – Status, Fidelity, Relatedness
Justice -- Fairness
Fidelity – Certainty
Veracity – Autonomy & Certainty

53. Beneficence
Justice

58. THEORY TO
PRACTICE

59. POSITIVE ETHICS
 Everything has an ethical element
 SHIFT from
 What we should do
 What we can do
Handelsman, Knapp & Gottlieb (2009)

60. FOLLOWING THE CODE:
FLOOR (BASE) ETHICS

61. FOLLOWING THE CODE:
The Least We Can Do

62. GOING BEYOND THE CODE:
CEILING ETHICS

63. GOING BEYOND THE CODE:
Integrating our ethical values into
everything we can do and who we
can be

64. OUR ROLE
To empower and ‘equip’
people to act effectively
in a spirit of self-
reliance.
Hope, Timmel & Hodzi (1984)

65. MODEL OF PRACTICE
What we do
And
How we are

66. NEURO-ETHICAL MODEL OF
PRACTICE
How we use our ethical values in
what we do and how we are to
meet SCARF needs:
empower and equip a person to act

67. FIRST LINE OF INQUIRY:
Asking for Help

68. WHAT’S GOING ON?

69. THREATS TO SCARF
NEEDS
• Status– To feel important
• Certainty– A sense of what is going to happen in the future
• Autonomy – A sense of control over events and things happening
to us
• Relatedness– A sense of safety with others, and knowing who
is a friend and who is a foe
• Fairness– A perception of fair exchanges between ourselves and
other people
Rock (2008)

70. SECOND LINE OF INQUIRY:
WHAT CAN WE ETHICALLY DO
TO MEET SCARF NEEDS?
Using our ethical values
as
Interventions

71. THIRD LINE OF INQUIRY:
HOW CAN WE ETHICALLY BE
TO MEET SCARF NEEDS?
Becoming our ethical values:
 Positive Regard
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

72. POSITIVE REGARD
 Unconditional and genuine
warmth, caring, liking, interest,
empathy and respect.
 Unleashes a person’s inner
capacity [motivation] to grow and
change.
Rogers (1961)

73. SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
People feel compelled to act
the way they are treated.

74. OUR VALUES
BECOMES THE HEART
OF OUR PRACTICE