We propose a new method, that we call an allocation perturbation, to derive the optimal nonlinear income tax schedules with multidimensional individual characteristics on which taxes cannot be conditioned. It is well established that, when individuals differ in terms of preferences top their skills, marginal rates can negative. In contrast, show heterogeneous behavioral responses and one has po...

This study provides exploratory evidence about how behavioral and neural responses to standard moral dilemmas are influenced by religious belief. Eleven Catholics and 13 Atheists (all female) judged 48 moral dilemmas. Differential neural activity between the two groups was found in precuneus and in prefrontal, frontal and temporal regions. Furthermore, a double dissociation showed that Catholic...

Neuroimaging data suggest that emotional brain systems are more strongly engaged by moral dilemmas in which innocent people are directly harmed than by dilemmas in which harm is remotely inflicted. In order to test the possibility that this emotional engagement involves anxiety, we investigated the effects of 1 mg and 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam on the response choices of 40 healthy...

In this paper I offer a defense of the view that judges should decide cases in accordance with act utilitarianism: i.e., in whatever way maximizes overall well-being. To advance this thesis, I first briefly give reasons for dissatisfaction with the commonsense thought that judges should just decide cases as the law requires. I then briefly argue for the claim that all moral agents, including ju...

Background: Utilitarianism is a school whose founders have justified it by emphasizing consequentialism as a public interest. The school of utilitarianism is a moral and naturalistic school that justifies principles such as justice and individual and collective freedoms. For utilitarian, one cannot rely solely on individual interests and neglect the collective interest or group interest. Human ...

Abstract What is the real ethical framework of an intelligence analyst? We addressed this question by presenting a group civil and military analysts ( N = 41), control non-professionals with set dilemmas depicting agents facing decision whether to violate deontological rule where that would benefit their work (ethics-of-intelligence dilemmas). Participants judged how much violating was acceptab...

Neuroimaging studies on moral decision-making have thus far largely focused on differences between moral judgments with opposing utilitarian (well-being maximizing) and deontological (duty-based) content. However, these studies have investigated moral dilemmas involving extreme situations, and did not control for two distinct dimensions of moral judgment: whether or not it is intuitive (immedia...