The Bio-Threshold of Ethics (BTE): An Integrated Neuro-Philosophical Model for the Emergence of Morality

The BTE model introduces a two-stage threshold for the emergence of moral behavior in species: a structural neural foundation and an activation mechanism. By comparing 12 species and analyzing anomalies like the "shark paradox", the model explains why some neurologically qualified species fail to show moral behavior. This neurophilosophical framework proposes measurable neural and chemical markers and integrates determinism with behavioral flexibility, offering implications for AI ethics, evolutionary biology, and moral theory.