Train tracks. Split decisions. And a philosophy humdinger worth debating. Dr. Joshua Greene is a Harvard Psychology professor, neuroscientist, and *actual* Trolleyologist. The moral humdinger that has been used in everything from Supreme Court decisions to board games looks at: What makes you a good person? How do you reason with people who make you scream into a jar like Yosemite Sam? How far would you go to save others? Which charities should get your money? What is active versus passive harm? And what would a monk do? Also: how neurodivergence influences moral decisions, religion used as a moral compass, and your new favorite skeleton on the planet. 

Visit Dr. Greene’s website, his charity platform Giving Multiplier, and his online quiz game Tango

Buy his book, Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them, on Bookshop.org or Amazon

A donation went to Giving Multiplier

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Bonus Episode: The OCD Experience, Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Suicidology (SUICIDE PREVENTION & AWARENESS), Dolorology (PAIN), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Personality Psychology (PERSONALITIES), Ferroequinology (TRAINS)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.