Minding Rights: Mapping Ethical and Legal Foundations of ‘Neurorights’

Authors

Sjors Ligthart
Marcello Ienca
Gerben Meynen
Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor
Roberto Andorno
Christoph Bublitz
Paul Catley
Lisa Claydon
Thomas Douglas
Nita A. Farahany, Duke Law SchoolFollow
Joseph J. Fins
Sara Goering
Pim Haselager
Fabrice Jotterand
Andrea Lavazza
Allan McCay
Abel Wajnerman Paz
Stephen Rainey
Jesper Ryberg
Philipp Kellmeyer

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2023

Keywords

neurorights, mental privacy, mental integrity, cognitive liberty, neurotechnology

Abstract

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty – often framed as “neurorights” in ethical, legal, and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at including neurorights into their constitutional legal frameworks, and international institutions and organizations, such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, are taking an active interest in developing international policy and governance guidelines on this issue. However, in many discussions of neurorights the philosophical assumptions, ethical frames of reference and legal interpretation are either not made explicit or conflict with each other. The aim of this multidisciplinary work is to provide conceptual, ethical, and legal foundations that allow for facilitating a common minimalist conceptual understanding of mental privacy, mental integrity, and cognitive liberty to facilitate scholarly, legal, and policy discussions.

Citation

Sjors Ligthart, Marcello Ienca, Gerben Meynen, Fruzsina Molnar-Gabor, Roberto Andorno, Christoph Bublitz, Paul Catley, Lisa Claydon, Thomas Douglas, Nita A. Farahany, Joseph J. Fins, Sara Goering, Pim Haselager, Fabrice Jotterand, Andrea Lavazza, Allan McCay, Abel Wajnerman Paz, Stephen Rainey, Jesper Ryberg & Philipp Kellmeyer, Minding Rights: Mapping Ethical and Legal Foundations of ‘Neurorights’, 32 Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 461-481 (2023)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.