Mission Statement

Centre of Cognitive Science, Ethics and Law (CCSEL)

Recent years have seen a significant increase of research about the impact of theories of the mind and cognitive science for morality and the legal system. This research concerns many problems right at the heart of ethics and law and there is no shortage of ideas, challenging sometimes radically traditionally held believes. Are there identifiable cognitive preconditions of moral judgements, e.g. of justice and human rights? What about free will? Is it a reality, an epiphenomenon, a chimera of the past? Are foundations of modern law like concepts of human autonomy, responsibility and guilt put into question through modern research? What about the system of sanctions? Can we predict behaviour and should we sanction accordingly? Are the new methods of neuroscience the end of the court room drama, brought about by the swift hand of neuro-imaging techniques, reading the thoughts of defendants, witnesses or those responsible for the final decision? Or are the scientific insights more limited than it appears in some contributions and public debates? Are some far-reaching assertions about the new future of ethics and law scientific insights or nothing but the mask of ignorance? The aim of the Centre is to foster a critical interdisciplinary assessment of current research in this area. It hopes to deepen the understanding of what is known about the inner constitution of the human mind and its role for ethics and law and thus about two building blocks of human culture and civilisation.