Citation

Harman O. Stud. Hist. Philos. Biol. Biomed. Sci. 2013; 44(3): 455-459.

Affiliation

Graduate Program in Science Technology and Society, Bar Ilan University, Israel. Electronic address: oren.harman@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.04.005

PMID

23659905

Abstract

Recently, the question of adolescent culpability has been brought before the Supreme Court of the United States for reconsideration. Neuroscience, adolescent advocates claim, is teaching us that young people cannot be found fully responsible for their actions. The reason: their brains are not fully formed. Here I consider the history of the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom, a number of adolescent murder cases, and the data now emerging from neuroscience, and argue that when it comes to brains, judges, just like the rest of us, are unnecessarily impressed. Ultimately, how we determine culpability should rest on normative and ethical considerations rather than on scientific ones.

Language: en