York Centre for Public Policy and Law: Defending the Absolute Nature of Freedom of Thought
Join us for the York Centre for Public Policy and Law’s event examining the human right to freedom of thought, emerging mind‑affecting technologies, and debates over whether this right is absolute under international law.
The human right to freedom of thought has seen renewed interest by scholars and international institutions in recent years, especially because of emerging technologies that affect the human mind such as neurotechnologies. However, the content and scope of the right remain unclear. This talk addresses a central point of contestation: whether the right is absolute under international law. If so, it would provide principled protection of certain aspects of the mind against non-consensual interferences, with implications for state obligations to respect the right, protect people against interferences by private actors, and more specific matters of technology regulation. Drawing on the history of the right, the talk engages with recent arguments which call the coherence of an absolute right into question, and presents some new legal-philosophical ideas about its adequate interpretation.
