- Seven-Day Week: Fiction, Complexity & Covid-19You know what’s spooky? The seven-day week! Way spookier than the Bunyip. I’ll return to the Bunyip, but for now just look at this bar graph: What do you see? The grey bars show the total number of Covid-19 tests performed each day over the past five months in the state of New South Wales, …
- Demazin: Right notes, wrong lyricsSurely, those old Codral Cold & Flu™️ ads – y’know, those ones with people heading off to work with a cold or the flu, but popping pills that relieved their symptoms, with a catchy tune playing and lyrics that went “Soldier on with Codral, soldier on” – would go down like a lead balloon these …
- Soldier on with Covid, Soldier onOn Coffee and Codral ™️ Back in the late 1980’s, when I was 17 and 18, I not infrequently worked two back-to-back nine hour shifts while sporting a military-grade flu, dosed up on coffee and Codral ™️ cold and flu tablets. The setting was a busy 24 hour restaurant on Bourke Street, in Melbourne’s CBD. …
- Inbox Zero and ComplexityHere’s a story that caught my eye on Apple’s app store https://apps.apple.com/au/story/id1440219982 It describes two must-have apps that will finally make you more efficient, and help you to clear that backlog of emails in your inbox until you have no un-replied-to emails left — aka Inbox Zero! Reflecting on what was being offered by these …
- Neurointerventions and the Law — Book AbstractIn early 2020, a new edited book on the topic of neurolaw entitled Neurointerventions and the Law: Regulating Human Mental Capacity, containing 17 chapters written by an impressive lineup of 28 authors, and co-edited by me together with Thomas Nadelhoffer and Allan McCay, will be coming out with Oxford University Press. The book is now …
- Four Loci of Agential InterventionFULL TITLE: Four Loci of Agential Intervention: Putting neuro-interventions in their place Talk abstract for 2019 Neuroscience and Society conference Intuitively, neither the term “neurointerventions” nor the special issues that they seem to raise when they are used to influence thought and behaviour, seem difficult to grasp. Alas, scholarly efforts to even define the term …
- Flourishing With Emerging TechnologiesEmerging technologies – e.g. autonomous vehicles, gene editing, blockchain, and smart drugs – promise an exciting future. Before this excitement can become a reality, though, important concerns about safety, effectiveness, and equity must first be addressed. For instance, processing Bitcoin transactions is said to already chew up as much electricity as all of Denmark; no …
- Reducing incongruence or eliminating diversity?After decades of ruthless stigmatisation and pathologisation, the psychiatric profession has recently converged on a new way of characterising transgender people and the purpose of medical interventions such as cross-sex hormone treatment and gender confirmation surgery — one that deliberately aims to be progressive. According to the DSM-5 and the soon-to-be-released ICD-11, transgender people’s experienced …
- Conscientious Objections, Immutability, and Neuro-InterventionsIf we look closely at conscientious objections, what emerges is, in some ways, not dissimilar to a hostage situation. First, because conscience is immutable – that is, we cannot reason or bargain with it – we thus cannot alter its demands. Second, if we do not comply with its demands, then it will inflict incredible …
Conscientious Objections, Immutability, and Neuro-Interventions Read More »
- Preserving the excised genitals of transgender patients and other moral conundrums in psychiatry and medicineWhat business do psychiatrists have in transgender people’s lives if being transgender is not a mental disorder? Would we still care about making careful diagnoses – ones aimed to establish whether someone truly is transgender – if the effects of surgery and hormones could be reversed? For instance, if excised genitals of transgender patients could …
- Science, technology, and the criminal justice systemIn an earlier post I commented on a recently published study about EEG-based facial image reconstruction, and I made two observations about that study and the CBC’s media coverage. (1) Although the images of faces viewed by participants in that study were clearly images of different people, the reconstructed images (based on EEG data obtained …
Science, technology, and the criminal justice system Read More »
- Maoz and Yaffe on NeurolawUri Maoz’s and Gideon Yaffe’s paper “Neuroscience and Criminal Responsibility” (2015) is one of the best introductory articles on the topic of criminal responsibility for neurolaw students that I’ve encountered. In what follows, I first discuss two things I really like about this article, and below that I make some minor critical comments. The first …
- Reconstructing face images from EEG dataA recently-published scientific study by researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto reports on the use of EEG data to reconstruct images of faces shown to research study participants. In broad brush strokes, images of faces were shown to study participants. While study participants looked at those images, EEG recordings of …
- Take Your PillsTake Your Pills is a new documentary by Alison Klayman about non-therapeutic stimulant drug (ab)use. A description of the documentary on Alison’s web site is here and a link to the trailer is here. I just finished watching it, and so I thought I’d share some of my initial reflections. Its focus is mainly on …
- Diachronic Capacitarian Compatibilism: on responsibility, capacity, and fairnessThis is the abstract for a talk I will deliver on April 5-6, 2018 at the Conference on “Law, Science and Rationality”, in the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Imagine two people, Capacitous and Subcapacitous, who commit identical criminal offences under effectively identical circumstances. However, while Capacitous satisfies the mental capacity requirements …
Diachronic Capacitarian Compatibilism: on responsibility, capacity, and fairness Read More »
- iPhone X vs iPhone 6s: camera comparisonYesterday I bought an iPhone X after two years with an iPhone 6s, and today I decided to run some tests to compare both phones’ cameras. Going by the first batch of eleven test shots, the iPhone X’s camera is fantastic! Sharper focus, less blur, less noise in shadow areas, and way better colours. This …
- Moral Enhancement and Moral Perfection in Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”This talk will be presented at the conference “From human to posthuman? Ethical Inquiries regarding the radical transformation of human beings into different kinds of beings.” organised by Johann Roduit, Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich, Switzerland. ABSTRACT: Standard methods of moral improvement such as childhood rearing practices, moral education, and legal punishment are dreadfully inadequate. …
Moral Enhancement and Moral Perfection in Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” Read More »
- Parental Responsibility and Gene EditingAbstract to chapter co-authored with Emma A. Jane for the volume “Human Flourishing in an Age of Gene Editing” edited by Erik Parens and Josephine Johnston. Once genetic screening and intervention technologies become safe, effective, and inexpensive, should parents use them to safeguard their children’s happiness, and would parents who do not use them be …
- Why Capacity Matters: Is it fair to treat people like that, like that, for that?Introduction from my forthcoming chapter in Michael Sevel and Allan McCay’s edited volume Free Will and the Law: New Perspectives. David Hodgson (2012) thought that responsibility requires what he called “plausible reasoning”, which is reasoning that is not only sound, but also and importantly not completely law-governed. Otherwise, he thought, whether our choices were formed …
Why Capacity Matters: Is it fair to treat people like that, like that, for that? Read More »
- Beyond Law: Protecting victims through engineering and designChildren groomed by online predators, revenge porn victims extorted by unscrupulous internet entrepreneurs, Muslim community members targeted for racialised cyberhate…. Many of the contributors to this book have painted a grim picture of the various ways victims of cybercrimes are suffering, and the multiple ways law is failing to assist. Clearly something is not right …
Beyond Law: Protecting victims through engineering and design Read More »
- Victims of cybercrime: Definitions and challengesThis chapter highlights two groups of reasons why victims of cybercrime are overlooked by the criminal law. First, and perhaps most surprisingly to many readers, victims and their harms are at best of only marginal interest to the criminal law. Second, core features of criminal law doctrine are conceptually incompatible with recognizing and adjudicating cybercrimes. …
Victims of cybercrime: Definitions and challenges Read More »
- Cognitive Enhancement: A Social Experiment With TechnologyCognitive enhancement (CE) medications and devices – for instance, so-called “smart drugs” and transcranial electrical and magnetic brain stimulators – may change society and our values in various not-obviously-positive ways. But because CE is framed as a medical topic – a bioethics and neuroethics niche – such social and moral hazards are almost completely overlooked, …
Cognitive Enhancement: A Social Experiment With Technology Read More »
- RECIPE: Lemon and Ginger TofuIngredients • silken tofu • ginger, grated • lemon rind, grated • ponzu sauce, splash • Japanese rice vinegar, splash Method • grate ginger and lemon rind • add ponzu sauce and Japanese rice vinegar • slice tofu into bite-sized rectangles • serve tofu onto plates and drizzle with dressing
- Neuroethics Course SyllabiHey y’all, I’m teaching two neuroethics(ey) courses this Fall: • Brain, Self, and Society • Neuroethics (Neurointerventions) New content this time around: links to podcasts, videos (e.g. TED talks), and newspaper articles. I’m hoping to make this material easier to digest. If you need inspiration for what to put in your neuroethics syllabus then you’re …
- How we think about causationIn Couterfactuals, Control, and Causation: Why Knowledgeable People Get Blamed More, Elizabeth A. Gilbert and colleagues report findings from three psychology experiments. Here’s their abstract: Legal and prescriptive theories of blame generally propose that judgments about an actor’s mental state (e.g., her knowledge or intent) should remain separate from judgments about whether the actor caused …
- Discerning Madness from BadnessIn two days I’ll be at the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Moral Responsibility conference in Orem, UT, organized by Chris Weigel. The program is brimming with fascinating talk titles and topics including “Moral Enhancement” by Adina Roskies, “Addiction, Fallibility and Responsibility” by Chandra Sripada, “The Brain Functions that Make Us Responsible (or not)” by Katrina Sifferd …
- Video footage from “Neuro-Interventions and The Law” conference now availableIn case you missed last year’s Neuro-Interventions and The Law: Regulating Human Mental Capacity conference, you can now view video footage of some of the highlights from the conference at the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics‘ youtube channel. The videos include: Neuro-Interventions and The Law — welcome (Eddy Nahmias), introduction (Paul Root Wolpe), and …
Video footage from “Neuro-Interventions and The Law” conference now available Read More »
- RECIPE: Cauliflower Tabbouleh (low-carb)INGREDIENTS • cauliflower, half • lebanese cucumbers x 2 • cherry tomatoes, punnett • red capsicum, half • cilantro (fresh coriander), bunch • flat leaf parsley, bunch • raw almonds, two handfulls • pumpkin seeds, two handfulls • sunflower seeds, two handfulls • lemon juice, from one lemon • olive oil, splash • salt and …
- ANEC Conference DinnerNext week GSU will host the NEURO-INTERVENTIONS AND THE LAW: Regulating Human Mental Capacity conference organized by the Atlanta Neuroethics Consortium (ANEC). The conference dinner will be held at 6.30 pm on Saturday, September 13th at Alma Cocina restaurant located in downtown Atlanta at 191 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30303. (See the rave reviews …
- Neuro-Interventions and The LawIn five weeks (Sep 12-14) Atlanta will be home to an international neurolaw conference. See the program for a description of the “neuro-interventions” theme, headlined speakers, panel topics, and abstracts for talks and posters. Registration is free via Eventbrite, and the conference dinner at the premier downtown restaurant Alma Cocina costs only $45, though reservations …
- Where can I study Neurolaw?Suppose I wanted to study neurolaw. Who would I talk to? What university might I go to? Here’s a back of the envelope list sorted in alphabetical order: Duke University, Nita Farahany Georgia State University, Nicole Vincent Macquarie University (Australia), Jeanette Kennett University of Minnesota, Francis Shen University of Otago (New Zealand), Colin Gavaghan University …
- Neuroethics TopicsI’m teaching a course in Neuroethics in Spring 2015, and below is a bucket list of topics: overview of neuroethics overview of neuroscience ethics of neuroscience vs neuroscience of ethics the construction of neuroimages genetic and environmental influences love and anti-love drugs memory modification sex and gender neuroeconomics neuromarketing neuroaesthetics happiness and the good life …
- Reading VincentMy Ph.D. student Stephanie Hare – a.k.a. @neuroSteph on twitter – is every kind of awesome. Steph’s awesome for many reasons, but what prompted this particular instance of my gushing of praise is that, despite having lots on her plate already, she still nevertheless followed up on my suggestion that we do a focused reading …
- On “attending to”, “implementing”, and embodied/extended cognitionIt’s two months since Professor Goldberg’s reply to my reply to a section of a section of Dennis Patterson and Michael Pardo’s awesome new book about the conceptual foundations of law and neuroscience. Time flies, and tomorrow I’ll see Dennis at this conference, so it’s about time I pen a reply to Professor Goldberg. Actually, …
On “attending to”, “implementing”, and embodied/extended cognition Read More »
- Enhancement: the new “normal”?Ordinary people like students, professionals, and video game players are increasingly using technology to boost their memory, wakefulness, attention, reflexes, and clarity of thought. Cognitive enhancers range from regulated medications like Ritalin, modafinil, and donepezil, to unregulated devices that stimulate the brain using current drawn from 9 volt batteries. This is not science fiction but …
- RECIPE: Breakfast Pancakes (low-carb)INGREDIENTS • 3 heaped Tbsp psyllium husks • 1 heaped Tbsp ground chia seeds • 1 heaped Tbsp soy protein powder • 1 heaped Tbsp coconut flour • 2 flat tsp baking powder • generous pinch of salt • sweetener (I crush up 16 Splenda tablets) • 4 eggs • 1 cup milk (maybe a …
- Cognitive Enhancement and Academic DishonestyAt Duke University students who engage in “the unauthorized use of prescription medication to enhance academic performance” breach the university’s policy on academic honesty. Wow! Really? This is not a recent development, but I only just learned about it from this article and I’m frankly quite surprised. An understandable desire to curb illegal activity on …
- RECIPE: Ginger and Sesame DressingI use this dressing over tofu (fried or fresh), chicken (thighs with skin on, fried, then cut into strips), beef (prepare like chicken), or fish (steamed in a bamboo steamer). Here’s one idea: Steamed green vegies (e.g. snow peas, broccholi, bok choy, etc) and shirataki noodles are awesome low-carb accompaniaments to the main dish. Or, …
- Updated neurolaw course syllabusMy graduate seminar in neurolaw at GSU is up and running, and I’m stoked to have 14 brilliant MA and PhD students – and even one undergraduate student – enrolled from the disciplines of neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy. One of my aims this semester is for each of my students to write a final paper …
- Graduate Seminar in Neurolaw, Spr ’14, GSUHere’s a blurb and the first details for the neurolaw seminar that I’ll teach in Spring 2014 at GSU. PHIL 8000 SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY: Neurolaw CRN 17602 Capacity: 15 students Time: Wednesday 4.30pm-7pm Location: Classroom South 330 Duration: Jan 13 – May 6 GoSOLAR Link BLURB: This course investigates current topics at the intersection of …
- Hi Atlanta!Moving home is something that usually takes me a few days. Or, if I get pedantic about packing, and it’s a more significant move, it might take me a couple of weeks. In this case though I’ve spent the last two and a half months moving from Sydney to Atlanta – much travel, conferences, emmigration …
- The Stilnox defence: automatism or amnesia?Stilnox, a branded version of the generic drug Zolpidem, is a medication sometimes prescribed for the treatment of insomnia. It acts quickly – subjects typically become sleepy just 15 minutes after taking it – which is great if you only have a few hours to catch some Zzz’s and must fall asleep pronto. Also, its …
- Lyrics to Kosheen’s “Dependency”I normally rely on others to provide me with lyrics to songs I like because I just don’t hear lyrics. Fact. Alas, nobody seems to have transcribed the lyrics to my most recent earworm yet, KOSHEEN‘s “Depencency”. I searched the interwebs with no success, and eventually decided to attempt my own transcription. Further below I …
- Morse conference programme is upThe programme for the Law and Neuroscience: the work of Stephen Morse conference to be held in Florence, Italy, in early June has just gone up! And for your viewing pleasure I’ve replicated it below: DAY 1: SUNDAY, 9 JUNE 2013 14.00-15.00 Michael S. PARDO (University of Alabama School of Law) Dennis PATTERSON (European University …
- “A Compatibilist Theory of Legal Responsibility” (forthcoming)I just heard that my article A Compatibilist Theory of Legal Responsibility (CTLR) has been accepted for publication (subject to minor changes) in Criminal Law and Philosophy. This article is particularly dear to me because it’s actually an embryonic version of a book that I’m working on by the same title. In this article I …
“A Compatibilist Theory of Legal Responsibility” (forthcoming) Read More »
- Graduate seminar in neurolaw at GSU in Spring 2014Earlier today I organized my GSU teaching schedule for the coming academic year, and I’m particularly rapt that starting in the Spring 2014 semester I’ll be teaching a graduate seminar on the topic of neurolaw. Awesome, right?! =) Three years ago I developed my own syllabus for a neurolaw course. The syllabus (available here if …
Graduate seminar in neurolaw at GSU in Spring 2014 Read More »
- Law & Neuroscience: the work of Stephen J. MorseHere’s the latest information about a neurolaw conference you just don’t want to miss: Law & Neuroscience: the work of Stephen J. Morse 10 June 2013 | 0900h-1700h | European University Institute Sala Triaria | Villa Schifanoia | Via Boccaccio, 121 | Florence | Italy Jeanette KENNETT Macquarie University, Department of Philosophy Michael MOORE University …
Law & Neuroscience: the work of Stephen J. Morse Read More »
- No comms from 7pm till 1pm the next dayMy mornings are for research. This has consequences: • from 7pm one day till 1pm the next I have no internet access; • my phone is in flight mode, so you won’t get me there either; • I might answer the door, if you’re lucky, but probably not. If you have a problem with that …
- Neurointerventions and the Law. 7 March 2013, Hamburg, DE.A call for abstracts has been issued for a workshop to be held on 7 March 2013 at the Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg, on the topic of Neurointerventions and the Law. Information about the workshop, including a list of confirmed participants and directions for submitting an abstract can be found here. Abstract submission …
Neurointerventions and the Law. 7 March 2013, Hamburg, DE. Read More »
- On Non-relevant Science and NeurolanguageA recently-published piece entitled Criminal Minds: Use of Neuroscience as a Defense Skyrockets cites Nita Farahany‘s finding that “[t]he number of cases in which the judges discuss neuroscience is increasing,” which she reported at the Annual Meeting of the International Neuroethics Society last month. “I can’t tell you if that’s because neuroscience is increasing in …
- Compatibilism, Capacities and MechanismsThe interwebs failed today. Miserably. On four separate occasions, from four different email accounts, hosted by different institutions, I tried to send the abstract shown below (originally entitled Compatibilism with mechanisms sans capacities) to @ranilillanjum for her awesome conference “The Metaphysics of Free Will”, but the interwebs just ate my emails before she could read …
- Neurolaw conference focuses on Morse’s body of workAs I mentioned in an earlier post, rumor has it that an awesome neurolaw conference is at this very moment being planned for some time in May or June 2013, that the conference will be hosted at the EUI in Florence, and what’s particularly awesome about this brain worm of a rumor is that the …
Neurolaw conference focuses on Morse’s body of work Read More »
- Responsibility and neurolaw events in 2013Next year is going to be an exciting year if you have an interest in moral and legal responsibility, in the relationship between responsibility and mental capacity, in how the mind sciences and relevant technologies can shed light on these topics, and in neurolaw. With three months left 2012, my schedule for 2013 is already …
- What do you mean “capacity”?!Last week I was in Philadelphia at the Law and Neuroscience: State of the Art conference organised by Dennis Patterson from Rutgers and EUI. The conference lineup was fantastic – it included Debbie Denno, Adam Kolber, Michael Moore, John Mikhail, Stephen Morse, Adina Roskies, Michael Pardo & Dennis Patterson, Fred Schauer, and yours truly – …
- Draft jacket cover for “Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility”Here’s a sneak peek at a draft of the jacket cover for my forthcoming edited collection with OUP. The photo was taken by yours truly, which tickles me pink, and it’s a scene from the lovely Dutch city of Delft where I put together the first version of this volume.
- Chapters in “Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility”Thanks to the Library of Congress, you can now take a sneak peek at the contents of my forthcoming edited volume “Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility” with OUP,… or just see below: Introduction Nicole A Vincent Criminal common law compatibilism Stephen J. Morse What can neurosciences say about responsibility? : taking the distinction between theoretical and …
Chapters in “Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility” Read More »
- Four weeks in retrospectNearly four weeks ago I caught a flight out of Sydney to Amsterdam, and the intervening weeks have been jam-packed with workshops, papers, discussions, trains, friends and more planes. Highlights included: The Capacity-Character Project workshop in Delft was a fabulous success. It spawned papers, research collaboration ideas, and countless conversations and new friends and colleagues. …
- Kraków or Williamsburg this September?Until this morning my plans for late September this year seemed pretty solid. I was going to visit Williamsburg, VA, for the conference Responsibility & Relationships: A Conference in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment”. But a cat was set among the pigeons this morning by a PHILOS-L announcement for a …
- NEUROLAW.au web site maintenanceOne of the web sites I maintain is NEUROLAW.au. Until recently it was hosted on Apple’s .me server, but with that service going the way of the dinosaurs soon, I’ve taken this opportunity to move this site across to a different hosting service and to set it up as a WordPress site. This will streamline …
- Abstract for my forthcoming bookI just finished writing the abstract for my forthcoming edited volume with OUP entitled “Neuroscience and Legal Responsibility”, and here’s the result: How should neuroscience, psychology and behavioural genetics impact on legal responsibility practices? Recent findings from these fields are sometimes claimed to threaten the moral foundations of legal responsibility practices by revealing that determinism, …
- StabilityMacquarie University (MQ) decided to update its web site last week, and in the process changed the URL for my MQ home page. This prompted me to set up my own domain. In due course I’ll post links to my papers here, and maybe some non-academic things too.