From Moral Disengagement to the Neuroethics of Critical Consciousness

Critical consciousness endows human beings with the capacity to identify, analyze, and confront every act of oppression and marginalization directed at an individual or a community. Through this consciousness, which derives from moral consciousness, it is possible not only to create better conditions for vulnerable groups but also to promote social changes that foster greater social equity. In order to analyze the distinctive components of critical consciousness, we have drawn on neuroethics and critical theory to describe the main features of this consciousness and its multiple consequences in society. Accordingly, the main aim of this chapter is to analyze the influence of neuroethics on the study of critical consciousness and its effects on social participation. Moral disengagement will also be examined first as a key construct for understanding why social problems arise and persist. The findings identified in the scientific literature indicate that critical consciousness constitutes a continuum through which, at an initial stage, an analysis of the conditions of marginalization and oppression takes shape. Subsequently, an agency is constructed that motivates and enables more active participation in transforming the systems that marginalize and oppress certain groups or persons. In the examination of these three phases, neuroethics has been fundamental for identifying the foundations of human conduct, particularly in its moral dimension. Transferring neuroethical research to the study of critical consciousness will be essential to deepen that analysis. In conclusion, a long path still remains; however, the inclusion of neuroethics will surely open new routes in the study of critical consciousness.