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To extend Holly and Stacey’s lines of questioning, what are we to make of moral/ethical behavior in the context of brain vs. spirit?  If morality is inextricably linked to spiritual constructs of right and wrong in Western thought, does this mean you cannot behave morally without a belief in a “higher power?”  Are morals always present in behavior?  In my mind, at least, the term virtue is nearly indistinguishable from moral.  I think of church sanctions and the Golden Rule but I cannot wrap my mind around why, biologically speaking, most human beings follow these “virtuous” imposed standards for behavior.  What is keeping us (for the most part) on the straight and narrow?  Are we simply programmed to be good or is virtuous just a label used in the material world to describe accepted forms of behavior? 

Some other lingering questions:  Is there a chemical in our brains which makes certain people act in a reasonably moral way while others are hopeless social deviants?  Is immorality/amorality just an excuse, as Holly proposes, for people who don’t fit the mold?  Can we scientifically rehabilitate people’s behavior?  This wraps back around to the question of accountability, blame, and the ultimate by-product, guilt.  I would argue that guilt is a verifiable physical response to feelings of uncertainty.  Guilt manifests itself in various ways, but in the context of moral issues, guilt makes us weigh our actions as either right or wrong, even though we may attempt to reason our way around being reprehensible.  Is there a sliding scale to morality?  Am I getting too far into philosophy here?  Can any of my more esoteric-minded friends help me out?