Center for Clinical Bioethics

Anne Benvenuti

Section: Visiting Scholar Program

Anne Benvenuti, PhD, Visiting Scholar September 24-November 30, 2007. Dr. Benvenuti is Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at Cerro Coso College, California.

Research Topic: Ethical and Social Policy Implications of Implicit and Integral Neurological Processing.

Research Summary:

The conflict between science and religion represents an old type of response to qualitatively new human conditions: specifically it is a type of tribal response, spoken and understood in the language of linear thought which originates in the left hemisphere of the brain, but expressing tribal motives which reside implicitly in the right hemisphere of the brain.  Ecological and social conditions are such that we can no longer accommodate this intrapersonal and interpersonal breakdown of communication that are a consequence of human neural nature. Examining the assumptions, both conscious and unconscious, and the neurological processes upon which both points of view rest might best address the conflict between science and religion.  This conflict and other similar conflicts which are grounded in distinct neurological processes might best be resolved through a more refined understanding of the human ground out of which both are made, and through development of policies which address the whole human. The Complimentary and Alternative Medical (CAM) model in medicine is an example of a pioneer movement in this direction.

To meet the practical and ethical challenges facing global humanity, we must explore what it means to be human on planet earth, including the biological habitat of the body, the social habitat of meaning and relationship, and the cognitive habitat of expressed understanding. While forsaking tribalism for greater humanity is no small task, and creating a global culture is revolutionary in terms of anything humans have ever done, it is ethically imperative that we do so. The fact that we are neurologically equipped to do these things could serve as a starting point for a new understanding of human-global-being. We might yet become Homo Sapiens Sapiens.