BIOLOGY 134CNS · also ETHICS 134CNS, PHIL 134CNS
Emotion, Evolution, and Ethics
Daniel W. McShea
Description from DukeHub
Fear, love, anger, pride, regret, envy, emotions seem to play a big role in our lives and in the lives of certain other species. But what are the emotions? Are they guides to behavior? Are they judgments, or perhaps biases of judgment? Are they motivations? Or maybe they are side effects of other mental processes, irrelevant to proper mental function. This course explores what the emotions are, what they are for, and how they evolved. We begin with some classic treatments of behavior and emotion in certain species, including gulls and chimpanzees. We then consider emotions in humans, reading selections from important works in psychology, neurobiology, and ethics. The central issue in the last part of the course will be the role of the emotions in human judgment, especially moral judgment.
Skills
No skill passed the confidence bar. Weak matches go to review instead of this page: an AI pass that has to quote the description, then a person.
AI-resilient: 2 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "ethics"
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 12 seats per section
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
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