Advances in neuroscience that reveal a neural basis for moral evaluation raise questions about the relevance of religion, traditionally a source of ethical values. The text explores how religious perspectives, particularly Buddhist views on consciousness, karma, intentionality, and compassion, can enrich dialogue on neuroethics, while neuroscience may also inform religious understanding. It highlights broader tensions between science and religion and ethical concerns about neurological research.
People's intuitive moral judgments about actions toward human brain organoids (HBOs) are influenced not only by whether the organoids can experience pain (a valenced experience) but also by whether they can have visual experiences (a non-valenced experience). In an empirical study, participants judged the permissibility of creating and destroying HBOs differently depending on whether the organoids were described as capable of pain or of visual experience. These results suggest that the moral status people attribute to conscious HBOs is sensitive to the value of phenomenal consciousness itself, independent of its valence.