Emotions, Imagination, and Moral Reasoning

Robyn Langdon is an Associate Professor of the Macquarie Centre of Cognitive Science and a Senior Research Fellow of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Cognition and Its Disorders. Her research interests lies within the field of cognitive neuropsychiatry; she uses this approach to better understand the disturbances of normal information processing which associate with specific psychiatric symptoms, such as poor social functioning in schizophrenia and other psychopathologies. In her current research, she is extending her investigations into the relations between poor social cognition and poor social functioning to better understand violent tendencies in people with schizophrenia and amoral behavior in psychopathically inclined individuals. She has been a guest editor of the journal Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, and regularly publishes in journals such as the Annual Review of Psychology, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Psychological Medicine and Cognitive Neuropsychiatry.Catriona Mackenzie is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics at Macquarie University, Sydney. Her areas of research specialization include ethics, philosophical moral psychology, social and political philosophy, and applied ethics. She is co-editor of Relational Autonomy: Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy, Agency, and the Social Self (Oxford University Press, 2000), and Practical Identity and Narrative Agency (Routledge, 2008). Mackenzie has published articles in journals such as Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Hypatia, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Journal of Social Philosophy, Philosophical Papers, and Philosophical Explorations, as well as book chapters in numerous edited volumes. She was awarded the 2007 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Research in Ethics.

• R. Langdon, C. Mackenzie, Introduction. Section 1. Empathic Responsiveness and Moral Reasoning.M. de Rosnay, E. Fink, The Development of Moral Motivation at Six Years of Age. D.J. Hawes, M.R. Dadds, Re-visiting the Role of Empathy in Childhood Pathways to Antisocial Behavior. I. Ravenscroft, Fiction, Imagination and Ethics. R. Langdon, K. Delmas, Moral Reasoning and Psychopathic Tendencies in the General Community. D. McIlwain, J. Evans, E. Caldis, F. Cicchini, A. Aronstan, A. Wright, A. Taylor, Strange Moralities. R. de Oliviera-Souza, J. Moll, The Neurology of Morality. Section 2. Methodological and Philosophical Responses to Experimental Moral Psychology.N. Levy, J. McGuire, Cognitive Enhancement and Intuitive Dualism. T.I. Case, M.J. Oaten, R.J. Stevenson, Disgust and Moral Judgment. C. FitzGerald, P. Goldie, Thick Concepts and Their Role in Moral Psychology. C. Mackenzie, Emotions, Reflection and Moral Agency. J. Kennett, Living with One’s Choices. B.F. Malle, S. Gugliemo, Are Intentionality Judgments Fundamentally Moral? V. McGeer, Co-reactive Attitudes and the Making of a Moral Community. W. Christensen, J. Sutton, Conclusion.

"This volume brims with creative and incisive essays on the role of emotion in moral psychology from leading minds. Moreover, it establishes a lively dialogue between diverse psychological and philosophical perspectives. In both respects it captures the future of the field, and should not be missed."-Fiery Cushman, Ph.D., Brown University, USA