Minds, Brains, and Law: The Conceptual Foundations of Law and Neuroscience
Michael S. Pardo and Dennis Patterson
Abstract
As neuroscientific technologies continue to develop and inform our understanding of the mind, the opportunities for applying neuroscience in legal proceedings have also increased. Cognitive neuroscientists have deepened our understanding of the complex relationship between the mind and the brain by using new techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). The inferences drawn from these findings and increasingly sophisticated technologies are being applied to debates and processes in the legal field, from lie detection in criminal trials to cri ... More
As neuroscientific technologies continue to develop and inform our understanding of the mind, the opportunities for applying neuroscience in legal proceedings have also increased. Cognitive neuroscientists have deepened our understanding of the complex relationship between the mind and the brain by using new techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). The inferences drawn from these findings and increasingly sophisticated technologies are being applied to debates and processes in the legal field, from lie detection in criminal trials to critical legal doctrines surrounding the insanity defense or guilt adjudication. This book assesses the philosophical questions that arise when neuroscientific research and technology are applied in the legal system. It examines the arguments favoring the increased use of neuroscience in law, the means for assessing its reliability in legal proceedings, and the integration of neuroscientific research into substantive legal doctrines. The book uses its explorations to inform a corrective inquiry into the mistaken inferences and conceptual errors that arise from mismatched concepts, such as the mental disconnect of what constitutes “lying” on a lie detection test. The empirical, practical, ethical, and conceptual issues this text seeks to redress will deeply influence how we negotiate and implement the fruits of neuroscience in law and policy in the future.
Keywords:
neuroscientific technologies,
mind,
brain,
fMRI,
EEG,
legal proceedings,
legal doctrines,
empirical issues,
policy
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199812134 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2014 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812134.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Michael S. Pardo, author
The University of Alabama School of Law
Dennis Patterson, author
Rutgers University School of Law - Camden
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