| Course Description |
Neuroscience, as an emerging multidisciplinary field, has already dissolved a good deal of well-established boundaries between natural and social sciences. Its aspiration to reveal neurobiological structures underlying motor activities and cognitive abilities sets new horizons in understanding, inter alia, causes and patterns for social behavior. Hence law, as a tool used by all kind of human societies –primitive, traditional, modern alike- to regulate behavior, falls within the scope of neuroscience. Interaction between law and neuroscience has been a topic of scholarly interest for more than two decades now, already acquiring the status of a sub-discipline labelled as “neurolaw”.
Potential impacts of neuroscientific advances on the practice and theory of law are assessed from two different perspectives: On the one hand, scholars try to incorporate flourishing neuroscientific methods and knowledge in the field of law while conserving basics of modern legal systems as they are. More precisely, in this first perspective, scholars try to make use of neuroscientific research as if it merely consists in advanced forensics, i.e. a source which provides practitioners of law with additional material to be used in adjudication. On the other hand, a debate is conducted on whether or not neuroscientific developments constitute a real challenge to fundamental concepts that govern modern legal systems. Scholarly works falling in this second category endeavor to foresee how deep progress in neuroscience would affect current conception of “human nature” by altering or discarding our understanding concerning such concepts as free will, consciousness, mental states, etc. If we acquire through neuroscience a better understanding of brain mechanisms which are plausibly determining human behavior, some argue, modern legal systems will have to renounce all concepts that inherently presuppose a human agency acting under the guidance of mental states (desires, beliefs, intentions, wills, etc.) shaped by consciousness.
This course aims to bring the relationship between law and neuroscience under scrutiny from the latter perspective. The idea that human beings are endowed with consciousness and free will is one of the presumptions on which modern legal systems rely to define personality. Person, in the legal sense, has to have the ability to act consciously and/or according to his/her free will to bear the responsibility of his/her acts. Nevertheless, the accuracy of a conscious human agency acting with free will has been challenged by neuroscientific research since 1980s. The debate whether or not this challenge will force legal systems to define a new basis for criminal responsibility is at the focus of the course. In this respect, within the course’s framework students will analyze critically the following questions: how is the ancient antagonism between libertarianism (supporters of the idea of free will) and determinism constructed, what is the rationale for punishment in criminal law systems of modern societies (its relation to determinism and libertarianism), how are the arguments of supporters of determinism formulated in the light of neuroscientific advances, what will be effects of neuroscientific advances on criminal law policies in future societies.
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Program Outcomes and Competences |
Level |
Assessed by |
| 1) |
Thorough knowledge of the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology. |
S |
Exam,HW
|
| 2) |
Understanding of and ability to apply essential research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and data interpretation. |
N |
|
| 3) |
Competence to use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry and a scientific approach to solving problems related to behavior and mental processes. |
H |
Exam,HW
|
| 4) |
Understanding and ability to apply psychological principles, skills and values in personal, social, and organizational contexts. |
S |
Exam,HW
|
| 5) |
Ability to weigh evidence, to tolerate ambiguity, and to reflect other values that underpin psychology as a discipline. |
N |
Exam,HW
|
| 6) |
Internalization and dissemination of professional ethical standards. |
N |
|
| 7) |
Demonstration of competence in information technologies, and the ability to use computer and other technologies for purposes related to the pursuit of knowledge in psychology and the broader social sciences. |
N |
|
| 8) |
Skills to communicate the knowledge of psychological science effectively, in a variety of formats, in both Turkish and in English (in English, at least CEFR B2 level). |
S |
Exam,HW
|
| 9) |
Recognition, understanding, and respect for the complexity of sociocultural and international diversity. |
S |
Exam,HW
|
| 10) |
Recognition for the need for, and the skills to pursue, lifelong learning, inquiry, and self-improvement. |
S |
Exam,HW
|
| 11) |
Ability to formulate critical hypotheses based on psychological theory and literature, and design studies to test those hypotheses. |
H |
Exam,HW
|
| 12) |
Ability to acquire knowledge independently, and to plan one’s own learning. |
H |
Exam,HW
|
| 13) |
Demonstration of advanced competence in the clarity and composition of written work and presentations. |
H |
Exam,HW
|
| Week |
Subject |
| 1) |
Introduction – presentation of the course content |
| 2) |
Determinism vs. libertarianism: past and present of an ancient antagonism |
| 3) |
Incompatibilism vs. Compatibilism: Can free will exist in a deterministic universe? |
| 4) |
Folk psychology: mental states and human behavior |
| 5) |
Mens rea: mental element of a crime |
| 6) |
Why do we punish? Logics of penal policies in a democratic society |
| 7) |
Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience: New answers to old questions |
| 8) |
Mid-term exam |
| 9) |
Neuroscience of conscience |
| 10) |
Neuroscience of free will |
| 11) |
Neuroscience of aggression and violence |
| 12) |
The use of neuroscientific evidence in criminal cases 1 |
| 13) |
The use of neuroscientific evidence in criminal cases 2 |
| 14) |
Summing up: Will neuroscience change our understanding of legal responsibility? |
| 15) |
Final Examination Period |
| 16) |
Final Examination Period |
Information Package / Course Catalogue