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Law, Responsibility, and the Brain

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Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Summary

In perhaps the first attempt to link the brain to mental illness, Hippocrates elegantly wrote that it is the brain that makes us mad or delirious. Epitomizing one of the fundamental assumptions of contemporary neuroscience, Hippocrates’ words resonate far beyond the classic philosophical puzzle of mind and body and posit that our behavior, no matter how monstrous, lies at the mercy of our brain’s integrity. While clinicopathological observations have long pointed to several putative neurobiological systems as important in antisocial and violent criminal behavior, recent advances in brain-imaging have the potential to provide unparalleled insight. Consequently, brain-imaging studies have reinvigorated the neurophilosophical and legal debate of whether we are free agents in control of our own actions or mere prisoners of a biologically determined brain. In this chapter, we review studies pointing to brain dysfunction in criminally violent individuals and address a range of philosophical and practical issues concerning the use of brainimaging in court. We finally lay out several guidelines for its use in the legal system.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, CB2 2EF, United Kingdom

    Dean Mobbs

  2. Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London

    Dean Mobbs, Hakwan C. Lau & Chris D. Frith

  3. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford

    Hakwan C. Lau

  4. School of Law and Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

    Owen D. Jones

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  1. Dean Mobbs
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  2. Hakwan C. Lau
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  3. Owen D. Jones
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  4. Chris D. Frith
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Fuller Graduate Schools, 135 N. Oakland Ave, 91182, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Nancey Murphy

  2. Mathematics Department, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, 7701, Rondebosch, South Africa

    George F. R. Ellis

  3. Department of Philosophy, Indiana University, 1033 E. Third St., Sycamore Hall 026, 47405-7005, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Timothy O’Connor

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Mobbs, D., Lau, H.C., Jones, O.D., Frith, C.D. (2009). Law, Responsibility, and the Brain. In: Murphy, N., Ellis, G.F.R., O’Connor, T. (eds) Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03205-9_15

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