Brains: Self and Personhood

Neuroscience has become the new catchword. Just as DNA revolutionized thinking around human identity, so too does the study of our brains expect radical new insights into why humans act the way they do. In this chapter, we examine the changing biolegalities of the self and legal personhood through (1) the neurofication in law and society, (2) the making of neuro-legal categories, (3) the posthuman question of enhancement, and (4) the move from brainhood to neuro-rights. As we debunk the popular assumption that neuroscience radically intrudes in legal practice, we maintain that the appeal of neuro-based science for law reveals a philosophical fixation on the boundaries of personhood and responsibility. Central to how we establish legal culpability, causation, or mitigating circumstances, responsibility is being methodically retooled into a neuro-realistic account of agency that refutes free will. A biolegal approach can offer a critical perspective on the promises of neurolaw.