Law and Neuroscience

Andrea Lavazzo has posted an interesting comment on the Neuroethics and Law blog. Using the Terri Shiavo case as an example, Lavazzo argues that there is no evolutionary basis for the conflicting moral intuitions at issue in the case. Here is a summary:

In our example, the two individuals have opposite moral reactions, and consequently different physiological expressions, because their respective systems of moral values are very different. So the first individual will have a reaction of moral disgust (and consequently will raise his lip) because she believes in the sanctity of life and in our scenario life has been profaned. On the contrary, the other individual will have the reaction of moral approval (with the related physiological expressions) because she believes that the life of the woman was not worth living. The difference in the physiological responses of the two individuals can therefore be explained by referring to their respective cultural backgrounds, in which their moral views are respectively incorporated. 

Neuroscience and law is an important project for those who follow this blog. It offers many interesting insights into how moral reasoning arises in the functioning brain. Dipping into this matertial is fascinating. It holds implications for philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, moral theory, and law.

It is enthralling to read about the successes of recent neuroscience--an astonishing number of insights into how the brain perceives, learns, reasons, and grows. But despite its advances, it must be viewed with appropriate skepticism. As Lavazzo points out in the post (with links to supporting research) there is a great deal of over-reaching and over ambigious conclusions in the research. Catholic thinkers have much to offer in this area as critical evaluators of the emerging field who might challenge the over-reaching of the neuroethics enthusiasts. And also as persons with lived experiences of moral and religious life that are the phenomena that neuroethics studies.

For anyone interested and able to attend, I will be speaking on the use of neurological evidence in religious free exercise cases at a  conference on "Neuroscience in European and North-American Case-Law" that will take place on September 17, 2010, at the Court of Milan, Aula Magna, Via Freguglia n. 1, 20122 Milan (Italy) hosted by the Tribunale di Milano and the European Center for Law, Science and New Technologies at the University of Pavia. Contact the center for more information. [email protected]