Neurolaw and the Neuroscience of free will
a critical overview and perspectives for Criminal Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46274/1809-192XRICP2023v8n1p91-120Keywords:
Neurolaw, Neuroethics, free will, Neurosciences, Libet’s paradigmAbstract
Due to the advent of modern neurosciences, several scientific disciplines have developed entirely new theories, perspectives, and methodologies. The substantial advances and discoveries made in this field over the last decades, especially those concerned with human cog-nition and behavior, have steered the course of many traditional research areas and given rise to others, like neuroethics and neurolaw. Here we take a look at some of the general characteristics of the growing field of neurolaw, an interdisciplinary field that dwells on the intersection of law and neuroscience. We then discuss the neuroscience of free will, one of the most impacting and pressing topics in the neurolaw debate, with special attention to Libet’s paradigm, recent scientific developments, and novel interpretations that question customary assumptions about it. This debate has many implications for criminal law, especially because the notion free will plays a foundational role in many traditional legal theories in the field.
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