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1 results

  • 2 - The Right to Personal Identity

  • from Part I - The Negative Dimension
  • Sjors Ligthart, Utrecht University, Emma Dore-Horgan, University College Cork, Gerben Meynen, Utrecht University
  • Book:
    Minds, Freedoms and Rights
    Published online:
    21 December 2025
    Print publication:
    22 January 2026, pp 21-51
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  • Summary

    This chapter considers the potential of neurorehabilitation to interfere with a person’s identity, and hence its potential to infringe human rights that protect (different aspects of) personal identity. It builds upon previous arguments and suggestions in the literature that some forms of interference with the brain, such as the use of brain stimulation techniques, can cause psychological changes that disrupt a person’s identity. Until now, this debate has focused strongly on the side effects of brain stimulation for therapeutic purposes, such as DBS in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. We extrapolate this discussion to the context of criminal justice. In addition to earlier ethical evaluations of brain stimulation vis-à-vis personal identity, scholars are now considering the legal protection that should be offered to personal identity in this context, particularly through human rights. Some have argued for the introduction of a specific human right for this purpose: a right to psychological continuity.