Critical Reflections on the Need for a Right to Mental Self-Determination

Michalowski, Sabine

doi:10.1017/9781108676106.032

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In view of the advances in digital and neuroscientific technologies, enabling to access, alter, and manipulate mental states, scholars have been debating the case for introducing novel fundamental rights over the mind, such as rights to cognitive liberty, mental integrity, and mental self-determination (Boire 2001;Sententia 2004;Bublitz and Merkel 2014;Ienca and Andorno 2017;Lavazza 2018;Bublitz 2020a). At the same time, others have argued that such rights, protecting from interferences with the mind, are already enshrined in existing human rights law, mainly in the right to mental integrity and the right to freedom of thought (Michalowski 2020;Ligthart, Meynen, and Douglas, 2021). Below, we briefly discuss both rights and consider their implications for forensic XR.…”

Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar to the right to freedom of thought, the precise meaning and scope of the right to mental integrity are still unclear. Some authors understand this right as merely a right to mental health, while others suggest that it comprises a right to mental self-determination-that is, a right to control over the content of one's mental life (Ienca and Andorno 2017;Bublitz 2020a;Michalowski 2020;Marshall 2009). Whereas the former understanding may align best with the application of the right in present (scarce) case law, the latter may well evolve into the dominant legal interpretation in the near future.…”

Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[paragraph 21-22] Following this interpretation, the right to mental integrity as enshrined in the Oviedo Convention and encompassed by the right to respect for private life pursuant to Article 8 ECHR, is not confined to issues of mental health understood in a narrow sense, but also guarantees individuals to exercise control over what happens to their mental states-that is, a right to mental self-determination (cf. Michalowski 2020). Under such an understanding of the right, it covers (almost) any interference of the individual's mind by the State, at least those that change or control personal mental states and content.…”

Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is Virtually Everything Possible? The Relevance of Ethics and Human Rights for Introducing Extended Reality in Forensic Psychiatry

et al. 2021

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Extended Reality (XR) systems, such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), provide a digital simulation either of a complete environment, or of particular objects within the real world. Today, XR is used in a wide variety of settings, including gaming, design, engineering, and the military. In addition, XR has been introduced into psychology, cognitive sciences and biomedicine for both basic research as well as diagnosing or treating neurological and psychiatric disorders. In the context of XR, the simulated 'reality' can be controlled and people may safely learn to cope with their feelings and behavior. XR also enables to simulate environments that cannot easily be accessed or created otherwise. Therefore, Extended Reality systems are thought to be a promising tool in the resocialization of criminal offenders, more specifically for purposes of risk assessment and treatment of forensic patients. Employing XR in forensic settings raises ethical and legal intricacies which are not raised in case of most other healthcare applications. Whereas a variety of normative issues of XR have been discussed in the context of medicine and consumer usage, the debate on XR in forensic settings is, as yet, straggling. By discussing two general arguments in favor of employing XR in criminal justice, and two arguments calling for caution in this regard, the present paper aims to broaden the current ethical and legal debate on XR applications to their use in the resocialization of criminal offenders, mainly focusing on forensic patients.

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Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Human Rights: Freedom Of Thought and Mental Integritymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Is Virtually Everything Possible? The Relevance of Ethics and Human Rights for Introducing Extended Reality in Forensic Psychiatry

et al. 2021

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“…For emotions, the fundamental rights to respect for private and family life, and protection of personal data under Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights are especially at stake in allowing AI systems to use data to draw inferences on an individual's state of mind [23]. Whereas privacy centres on upholding the core values of 'individuality, autonomy, integrity and dignity' by protecting the individual against outside intrusions, data protection protects the individual's control over her personal data and thus the 'selective presentation' of the different facets of her personality [17,20].…”

Section: Fundamental Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nothing to Be Happy about: Consumer Emotions and AI

Đurović

Watson

2021

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Advancements in artificial intelligence and Big Data allow for a range of goods and services to determine and respond to a consumer’s emotional state of mind. Considerable potential surrounds the technological ability to detect and respond to an individual’s emotions, yet such technology is also controversial and raises questions surrounding the legal protection of emotions. Despite their highly sensitive and private nature, this article highlights the inadequate protection of emotions in aspects of data protection and consumer protection law, arguing that the contribution by recent proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act is not only unsuitable to overcome such deficits but does little to support the assertion that emotions are highly sensitive.

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“…Surprisingly, the set of neurorights does not include the rights that seem most promising and perhaps most urgently needed, i.e., a right to mental integrity complementing the legal protection of the person (e.g.,[21,41,56]); or a right to freedom of thought or Cognitive Liberty as discussed by legal scholars for some time (e.g.,[57][58][59][60][61][62]). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Neurorights: From Nonsense to Substance

Bublitz

2022

Neuroethics

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This paper analyses recent calls for so called “neurorights”, suggested novel human rights whose adoption is allegedly required because of advances in neuroscience, exemplified by a proposal of the Neurorights Initiative. Advances in neuroscience and technology are indeed impressive and pose a range of challenges for the law, and some novel applications give grounds for human rights concerns. But whether addressing these concerns requires adopting novel human rights, and whether the proposed neurorights are suitable candidates, are a different matter. This paper argues that the proposed rights, as individuals and a class, should not be adopted and lobbying on their behalf should stop. The proposal tends to promote rights inflationism, is tainted by neuroexceptionalism and neuroessentialism, and lacks grounding in relevant scholarship. None of the proposed individual rights passes quality criteria debated in the field. While understandable from a moral perspective, the proposal is fundamentally flawed from a legal perspective. Rather than conjuring up novel human rights, existing rights should be further developed in face of changing societal circumstances and technological possibilities.

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Critical Reflections on the Need for a Right to Mental Self-Determination

Cited by 9 publications

References 2 publications

Is Virtually Everything Possible? The Relevance of Ethics and Human Rights for Introducing Extended Reality in Forensic Psychiatry

Is Virtually Everything Possible? The Relevance of Ethics and Human Rights for Introducing Extended Reality in Forensic Psychiatry

Nothing to Be Happy about: Consumer Emotions and AI

Novel Neurorights: From Nonsense to Substance

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