Responsible Brains: Neuroscience, Law, and Human Culpability

Author:   William Hirstein (Professor, Elmhurst College) ,  Katrina L. Sifferd (Associate Professor, Elmhurst College) ,  Tyler K. Fagan (Visiting Assistant Professor, Elmhurst College)
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
ISBN:  

9780262549271


Pages:   304
Publication Date:   19 September 2023
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Responsible Brains: Neuroscience, Law, and Human Culpability


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Overview

An examination of the relationship between the brain and culpability that offers a comprehensive neuroscientific theory of human responsibility. An examination of the relationship between the brain and culpability that offers a comprehensive neuroscientific theory of human responsibility. When we praise, blame, punish, or reward people for their actions, we are holding them responsible for what they have done. Common sense tells us that what makes human beings responsible has to do with their minds and, in particular, the relationship between their minds and their actions. Yet the empirical connection is not necessarily obvious. The ""guilty mind"" is a core concept of criminal law, but if a defendant on trial for murder were found to have serious brain damage, which brain parts or processes would have to be damaged for him to be considered not responsible, or less responsible, for the crime? What mental illnesses would justify legal pleas of insanity? In Responsible Brains, philosophers William Hirstein, Katrina Sifferd, and Tyler Fagan examine recent developments in neuroscience that point to neural mechanisms of responsibility. Drawing on this research, they argue that evidence from neuroscience and cognitive science can illuminate and inform the nature of responsibility and agency. They go on to offer a novel and comprehensive neuroscientific theory of human responsibility. The authors' core hypothesis is that responsibility is grounded in the brain's prefrontal executive processes, which enable us to make plans, shift attention, inhibit actions, and more. The authors develop the executive theory of responsibility and discuss its implications for criminal law. Their theory neatly bridges the folk-psychological concepts of the law and neuroscientific findings.

Full Product Details

Author:   William Hirstein (Professor, Elmhurst College) ,  Katrina L. Sifferd (Associate Professor, Elmhurst College) ,  Tyler K. Fagan (Visiting Assistant Professor, Elmhurst College)
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780262549271


ISBN 10:   0262549271
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   19 September 2023
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface vii Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction 1 2 The Science of Executive Processes 17 3 Moral Responsibility 43 4 Criminal Responsibility 71 5 Consciousness versus the Executive Processes 91 6 Judgments and Claims of Responsibility 115 7 Responsible Lives, Responsible Acts 133 8 Responsibility under Development 155 9 Responsibility, Capacity, and Insanity 177 10 Blame, Desert, and Punishment 199 11 Epilogue 227 Notes 237 References 253 Name Index 283 Subject Index 287

Reviews

This is a thoroughly engaging and well-written book. The authors survey much of the responsibility literature and provide engaging discussions of the leading positions. Their suggestions for the use of neuroscientific evidence in various contexts (e.g., assessment of minors) is particularly persuasive. This is a book to be read by anyone with an interest in law and neuroscience, responsibility, criminal law, and ethics.--Juris: JOTWELL--


Author Information

William Hirstein is Professor of Philosophy at Elmhurst College, Illinois and the author of Brain Fiction- Self-Deception and the Riddle of Confabulation (MIT Press). Katrina L. Sifferd is Professor of Philosophy at Elmhurst College. Tyler K. Fagan is Lecturer in Philosophy at Elmhurst College.

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