The right to mental integrity in the age of neurotechnology: Constructing scope and exploring permissible limitations

Abstract

One way to ensure adequate legal protection against existing and emerging forms of mental interference is by specifying the human right to mental integrity. This paper considers three possible constructions of the scope of this right in human rights law. It argues that the Mental Control View and the Direct Harmful Interference View fall short of providing a persuasive definition of the right. Rather, it is proposed to construct the scope of the right along the lines of the Significant Mental Interference View. Meanwhile, the directness of a mental interference and the psychological harm it entails are plausibly relevant factors to the potential justification of rights infringements.