Afolabi Michael Olusegun
Med Law. 2015 Sep;34(1):307-319.
Breaking a moral rule in an autonomous state implies a deliberate and intentional cogitation vis-à-vis the given act. This constitutes. the moral fabric of imposing responsibility and accountability. Legal liability and culpability rests on a similar logic. However, pathological and non-pathological conditions, which create mental instabilities, challenge the notion of autonomous capacity and, consequently, nuance the notion of accountability for violations of civil or legal statutes under such states. On this note, this essay explores the neuroethical implications of crimes committed in the context of mental instabilities. Employing a hypothetical case involving battery under the influence of alcohol-withdrawal symptoms, the paper offers a neuroethical polemic for legal exculpation as well as how this warrants some changes in relation to the concept of mens rea.
在自主状态下违反道德规则意味着对特定行为进行了深思熟虑和有意的考量。这构成了施加责任和问责的道德架构。法律责任和罪责基于类似的逻辑。然而，导致精神不稳定的病理和非病理状况对自主能力的概念提出了挑战，因此也使在此类状态下违反民事或法律规定的问责概念变得微妙。基于此，本文探讨了在精神不稳定背景下犯罪的神经伦理影响。通过一个涉及酒精戒断症状影响下的殴打行为的假设案例，本文就法律免责提出了神经伦理辩论，以及这如何保证对犯罪意图概念进行一些改变。
