Protecting the Mind: An Analysis of the Concept of the Mental in the Neurorights Law

Abstract

After examining some of the most fundamental aspects of the general concept of 'neuroright' in the current discussion, this paper analyzes the concept of 'the mental' contained in the very first law of neurorights in the world currently under discussion in the Senate of the Republic of Chile (Bulletin 13.828-19 of the Chilean Senate). It is claimed that the lack of specificity of the target notion might not only posit difficulties for the creation of specific legal frameworks for the protection of subjects from potential misuses of neurotechnologies with access to neural data, but it might also make very difficult the process of decision-taking when interpreting the law.