A hypothetical neurological association between dehumanization and human rights abuses

Area of Science:

• Social Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Law

Background:

• Dehumanization is linked to reduced empathy, denial of rights, and violence.
• Neural mechanisms for pain empathy may preferentially respond to those perceived as 'human' or 'in-group'.

Purpose of the Study:

• To hypothesize that reduced empathy for dehumanized groups stems from automatic neural responses.
• To explore implications for legal personhood, human rights, and free speech jurisprudence.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing research on empathy, dehumanization, and neural pain responses.
• Theoretical analysis connecting social neuroscience findings to legal and philosophical concepts.

Main Results:

• Neural pain empathy mechanisms are proposed to be most responsive to individuals implicitly associated with one's own species.
• This mechanism explains reduced empathy for dehumanized groups.

Conclusions:

• Legal definitions of personhood and dehumanizing hate speech can manipulate neural empathy mechanisms.
• This manipulation poses a significant threat to human rights and democracy.