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Related Experiment Videos

For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything.

Joshua Greene1, Jonathan Cohen

  • 1Department of Psychology, Center for the Study of Brain, Mind, and Behavior, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. jdgreene@princeton.edu

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|December 14, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Cognitive neuroscience advancements will likely transform the law by reshaping moral intuitions about free will and responsibility. This shift suggests moving from retribution-based punishment to a more progressive, consequentialist approach in criminal law.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroscience and Law

Background:

  • The field of cognitive neuroscience seeks to link mental operations to brain functions.
  • Emerging neuroscience findings may impact legal understanding of human behavior.
  • Debate exists on whether neuroscience will fundamentally alter legal doctrines or merely supplement them.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To argue that cognitive neuroscience will likely have a transformative effect on the legal system.
  • To explore how neuroscience influences moral intuitions regarding free will and responsibility.
  • To advocate for a shift in legal approaches from retribution to consequentialism.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of the potential impact of cognitive neuroscience on legal principles.
  • Examination of how new neuroscientific insights might alter societal moral intuitions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Philosophical and legal argumentation regarding the future of criminal law.

    • Main Results:

    • Neuroscience is expected to transform the law not by invalidating current assumptions, but by altering moral intuitions.
    • A deeper appreciation of existing arguments, supported by neuroscientific evidence, will drive this change.
    • The study anticipates a move towards consequentialist justifications for criminal law.

    Conclusions:

    • Cognitive neuroscience will likely reshape legal doctrines by influencing public and legal conceptions of responsibility.
    • A transition from retributive to consequentialist sentencing is recommended.
    • The law should adapt to incorporate evolving understandings of human behavior informed by neuroscience.