Seite - 123 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 123 genuinely has the ability to do otherwise. Many who hold this position also believe that freedom underpins all social morality. Determining whether this strong sense of a genuine ability to do oth- erwise cannot be reduced to chance is one of the main debates between Libertarians and other positions. Indeed, some supporters of Libertarianism maintain that a strong argument supporting indeterminism can be derived from quantum mechanics, including the unpredictability of the behav- iour and location of subatomic particles. This, it is argued, demonstrates that at the most fundamental level, the universe cannot be seen as being determined. However, the relevance of quantum mechanics to the free will debate can be questioned, since even if quantum-level events were demonstrated to have an effect on brain-level functions, this would not necessarily offer any endorsement of free will. This is because any appropriate understanding of the concept of free will cannot be reduced to just another way of understand- ing uncertainty. Of course, many Libertarians recognise that other influences, such as mental disorders, can influence free will. They also note that the free will of a person may be influenced by his or her character, which was formed after many free-will decisions. This implies that the character of an individual may have become such that he or she is simply no longer able to freely choose certain courses of action and that it would first have to change for this indi- vidual to be able to make another decision. Determinists With Determinism, all mental processes are the consequence of neuronal activations. This can generally be defined as neuroessentialism, which reflects the notion that mental states, behaviour, notions of self, and personal iden- tity can be reduced to neurobiology.101 In other words, decisions are the end result of neuronal processes that come together into the most likely stable state in the given conditions,102 which are themselves generally constructed from numerous variables and influences, such as the environment of the person. These neuronal processes are also influenced by the particular functional architecture of the brain, which is different in all individuals.103 Thus, according to Determinism, at the moment of having reached a decision, a person could not have decided otherwise. As a result, neither free will nor responsibilities actually exist. If Determinism is accepted as the sole reason for a decision, it would have significant repercussions for any legal system, since it would question the very concept of responsibility and make sanctions for any inappropriate behaviour meaningless. Determinists are convinced that there must be a neuronal cause for any deviant behaviour, whatever its exact nature. This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.