Individual Autonomy, Law, and Technology: Should Soft Determinism Guide Legal Analysis?

Abstract

How one thinks about the relationship between individual autonomy (sometimes referred to as individual willpower or human agency) and technology can influence the way legal thinkers develop policy at the intersection of law and technology. Perspectives that fall toward the `machines control us' end of the spectrum may support more interventionist legal policies while those who identify more closely with the `we are in charge of machines' position may refuse to interfere with technological developments. The concept of soft determinism charts a middle-ground between these two positions and could assist in the formulation of a general theory of the relationship between law and technology. Soft determinism maintains that technological developments are embedded in social, political, economic and other processes, and serve to guide and, potentially, configure future actions and relationships with these technologies, their users, and their subjects: while past technology develops shape the present, individuals and groups can still exert control over these technological developments.

Drinking Water Quality in Indian Water Policies, Laws, and Courtrooms: Understanding the Intersections of Science and Law in Developing Countries

“…However, the “truth-seeking world of science and the justice-serving institutions of law” often encounter each other (Jasanoff, 1995). A number of scholars from science and technology studies (STS) attempted to analyze the interaction of these two prominent institutions during the last couple of decades (Bader, 2014; Cockfield, 2010; Craik, Culver, & Siebrasse, 2007; Faulkner, Lange, & Lawless, 2012; Jasanoff, 1995; Lynch, 2013; Lynch & McNally, 1999; Martire, 2010; Miller, 2014; Swanson, 2007; Vanderburg, 2007). The existing literature is, however, skewed toward developed countries; studies from developing countries dealing with science and law within the STS domain is scantly available (Chowdhury, 2014).…”

Deleuze and Big Data: How Facebook's Use of Big Data Analytics Shifts Legal Personhood, Privacy and Commercial Expression

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