What part of the brain controls ethics?
91826
Yes, it's generally considered the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher-level planning and evaluation.  I recommend reading the macabre but interesting stroy of Phineas Gage, linked below, to get a sense of what happens when this area is damaged.
178928
I would like to agree with that statement, but I don't believe it's entirely correct.  People develop morality in part because of social conditioning, but also partly from instinct; the invisible man would have no need for morality, but he most likely would still have some.  People do have a tendency to make mental connections that truly baffle- assigning personalities to our cars, talking to plants, believing that some supernatural being is always watching (whether its God or Santa is up to you).  The fact of the matter is, that left to their own devices, most people are intrinsically good and honest for whatever reason.  (I think it's delusion, others call it nobility.)\n\nThis was demonstrated in the book "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell.  He describes a bagel supplier that operated on the "honor system".  Just a box was left for money, while bagels were self service- dropped off in dozens of offices all over town, fresh each morning.  Even the most dishonest office lunchrooms where the brave entrepeneur did business still paid for more than 75% of their bagels- while most of his client offices had rates closer to 95%.
569852
What's the difference?\n\nDidn't the brain which engages in rational decision making also evolve?
881899
There are certainly functions that can be controlled by thinking about them. Breathing is easy to slow down or speed up. I've slow my heart rate by concentrating, probably because I put myself in a more restful state. There are people that can hold their breath for 5+ minutes. I haven't heard about white cell count, but I remember hearing about changing body heat by concentration. The brain is a marvelous place that controls all systems of the body unconsciously, the fact that we also use it to think indicates that the brain can be trained to control body systems consciously.
930444
Ethics (from the Ancient Greek "ethikos", meaning "arising from habit"), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of value or quality. It covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right, wrong, good, evil, and responsibility. It is divided into three primary areas: meta-ethics (the study of what ethicality is), normative ethics (the study of what ethical truths there are and how they are known), and applied ethics (the study of the use of ethical knowledge).\n\nEthics is a general term for what is often described as the "science (study) of morality". In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is "good" or "right." The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy. This is one part of value theory (axiology) – the other part is aesthetics – one of the four major branches of philosophy, alongside metaphysics, epistemology, and logic. It is a study of right  and wrong, good and bad, moral judgment, etc.. It is a set of moral principles or values.
938505
Short answer: My brain.\n\nRight and wrong doesn't really have a source.  There's no spigot you can turn to pour right or wrong out.  It's not a substance.  It's not a form of energy.  Right and wrong are judgments.  Such judgments are formed by the brain.\n\nThat said, people tend to have common morals because of a common human experience.  This includes some genetic selection.  Many of our morals come from instincts that have worked for us as a species.\n\nAnother source of morality is society.  There have been countless societies with various moralities.  As societies have competed, some moralities have proven more effective at allowing people to live amongst each other in relative peace.\n\nThat, btw, is the purpose of morality, to allow people to live close to each other.\n\nWhen it gets down to it, though, the "source" of your morality is your brain.  My morality is influenced by my human genetics, the world I live in, my country, my state, my neighborhood, my culture, my friends, my family.  But ultimately, I decided, for myself, what my place is in society, what I want to do with my life, and how I think I should relate to other people.\n\nI can go on to explain how people with different morals come to common morality and how that translates into laws in society, but this post is already too long.
194670
It doesn't make you tell the truth, it makes you unable to lie.  It targets the inhibitory center of the brain, the part that regulates inhibitions.
529849
The brain is an extremely complex part of the human body; therefore, there are dozens of places a person can use to make a choice. However, my guess would be all of the brain. The cerebral cortex is used for the storage of memory. So if you remember something unpleasant about a choice, you would choose something else. Also, your occipital lobe, auditory lobe, and all the other lobes from each of the senses could help a person make a decision. Like, if you smell bad eggs, then you would not buy those eggs. Also, the cerebellum controls movement, so that could also affect a decision. \n\nEtc. Etc. Etc... :)
692451
The human brain. Look at everything around you, it was created by the human brain. Cars, buildings, nuclear weapons, etc. were created by the human brain. Everything that you feel emotionally, all of your passion, motivation, and "spirit" is the direct result of your brain.
823731
The brain is convoluted. As are we all?
363079
superstition is likely related to reasoning, therfore it would be the frontal lobe and caudate nucleus
118490
Neo-Cortex is the part(s) of brain that was formed after we became humans. (or lead to humanization)\n\nOther parts (we share with monkeys) communicate using alcohol. And hence forth alcohol consumption fires these cells at the cost of the Neo-Cortex leading to Primal behaviour...\n\nI have no clue how they have linked Neo-Cortex all the way to an abortion.
4802
They're working on it. :-)\n\nWhat they do know:\n\n"The results [of a recent study] turned up [that] ... it bypasses the known brain circuitry for consciously analyzing and mimicking other people’s actions."\n\n"This might be part of a more general phenomenon of unconscious signals that serve to synchronize group behavior, the authors of the Neuroimage paper wrote. “Such synchronization could be essential for species survival and works without action understanding, like when a flock of birds rises to the air as soon as the first bird does so—supposably as it notices a predator.”"\n\nTry the article in the sources for more.
1167809
In the brain.  \n\nIts in the frontal lobes above the orbits of the eyes and is associated with decision making and emotions.
557487
They come from the stem of the brain.
329002
Interesting puzzle:\nfMRI studies have shown that neurons in the brain associated with a task begin to fire about 800 milliseconds before the person is even aware that they want to perform an action.\n\nIs this God? Do we have no free will? Is this our soul?\n\n\n                     Med Hypotheses. 2001 Mar;56(3):364-6. \n    If there were no free will: Fisher CM.\n\n\n    Electrophysiological findings in humans who are performing voluntary acts, indicate that the intention to act, follows brain activity rather than preceding it. This has implications for voluntary behavior and the doctrine of free will. This essay reviews the fields of human behavior, including medicine, in which this new thesis might have far-reaching significance. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.\n\nAn extract:\n\n...it should be pointed out\nthat somewhat the same conclusion may be reached on\nthe basis of rather elementary observation. Every thought,\nfeeling, inclination, intention, desire, every mental\nimpression no matter how brief or faint, must be created\nby nervous system activity. How else could they arise? Ideas would have to arise without a physical basis.\nNervous system activity must always precede. Every\nnuance of thought and feeling arises in and must be preceded\nby its own specific electrical configuration in the\nbrain. If one has the experience of ‘willing’ the nervous\nsystem to do something, the impression of ‘willing’ must\nhave been preceded by nervous system activity.\nOtherwise there would be no source and we are in the\nrealm of the supernatural. Before I think of anything, it\nmust first have taken form in my nervous system.\n\nAh yes, the nervous system... some may just call this the soul...\n\n\nEdit: in reference to the below answer, I've pulled out a (scientific) study that does not suggest that there is no soul.\n\n Hist Philos Life Sci. 2004;26(3-4):377-94. \n\n    'Show me your original face before you were born': the convergence of public fetuses and sacred DNA.\n\n    Gilbert SF, Howes-Mischel R.\n\n    Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081, USA.\n\n    Embryology is an intensely visual field, and it has provided the public with images of human embryos and fetuses. The responses to these images can be extremely powerful and personal, and the images (as well as our reactions to them) are conditioned by social and political agendas. The image of the 'autonomous fetus' abstracts the fetus from the mother, the womb, and from all social contexts, thereby emphasizing 'individuality'. The image of 'sacred DNA' emphasizes DNA as the unmoved mover, the eidos, the soul of the human being. Since fertilization involves the forming of a new constellation of DNA in the zygote, the act of fertilization is being perceived as the secular and technical equivalent of ensoulment. This privileges fertilization above the other possible scientifically valued times when 'human life' begins.
519830
Lying caused activity in the frontal part of the brain - the medial inferior and pre-central areas, as well as the hippocampus and middle temporal regions and the limbic areas. \n\nDuring a truthful response, the fMRI showed activation of parts of the brain's frontal lobe, temporal lobe and cingulate gyrus.