From Is to Ought

How Scientific Research in the Field of Moral Cognition Can Impact the Criminal Law

Abstract

Rapid technological advances in the field of neuroscience and cognitive psychology are claiming to have solved the millennia-old puzzle of moral cognition. If true, our societal structures – and with that the criminal law – would be gravely impacted. This paper concerns itself with four distinct theories stemming from the disciplines above, taking an in-depth look at the Dual Process Theory by JOSHUA GREENE and juxtaposing the findings to the consequentialist and retributivist theories of punishment present in the American Criminal Law Doctrine.