Matthew Taylor
speaker
407 appearances
3 recordings
1 series
first heard Nov 2011
last heard Nov 2011
Matthew Taylor’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
As the science advances, do you think that we will be able to relate physiological observations to less extreme forms of behavior and less extreme forms of damage to the brain?
And this is what some neuroscientists now argue, that understanding more clearly the way brain processes lead to behaviour has tilted the age-old philosophical argument about free will.
But what is the legal system meant to do with knowledge that our behaviour reflects the wiring of our brains?
Colin Blakemore.
It will force us, and the us in this case of course means lawyers really, to re-examine the notion of a responsible mind, of mens rea, this underpinning principle that people are in control of their actions.
That is not to say that the my-brain-did-it defence will become a reason to let people off.
They can't just be released on the streets again.
They've done something which society judges to be wrong.
But the way in which they are seen, their culpability and their responsibility for the act, I think we will reassess very substantially as we learn more about how the brain works.
The term blaming them will, I think, become less and less meaningful.
But there still is a moment when we know that there is right and we know there is wrong and we plump for wrong and therefore deserve to be punished.
But you're saying that that plumping for wrong is simply a function of the construct of our brain.
What else could it be that is making our muscles move if it's not our brains?
The reason I have a problem with this case is this.
When the tumor was discovered, the man was clearly suffering from major rationality defects.
Stephen J. Morse of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
As in British law, American courts can conclude that there are times when brain malfunctions mean people can't be held responsible.
For example, someone who commits a criminal act when having an epileptic fit.
That's the basis of the plea of diminished responsibility.
But even though Fred's whole personality changed when he developed a tumour, evidence about damage to the brain hasn't yet been conclusive in a criminal case, neither here nor in America.
Showing 321–340 of 407 · page 17 of 21
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