ABSTRACT
This chapter considers values as reflecting or corresponding to moral values, which are more likely to involve empathic concern for others than values without a moral component. Several overlapping and at least partially dissociable brain networks have been proposed as critical for empathy. Psychopathy is a severe disorder of personality, characterized by a callous lack of empathy and shallow affect. The lack of emotional empathy in psychopaths is more pronounced for negative rather than positive emotions. The transition from reflexive behavior to intentional behavior is perhaps the most crucial part of infant and child development. The brain is obviously necessary for the developmental trajectory to follow a normal course. Congenital abnormalities or behavioral problems following severe abuse might be reasonably expected to interfere with the emergence of the cognitive structures necessary for empathy. Modern neuroscience tends to regularly fall into an erroneous proposal of neural determinism based on the necessity of neural structures for all mental functions.
