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The right to freedom of thought features prominently in debates about emerging technologies including neurotechnology and AI, but there is little understanding of its scope, content or application. This handbook presents the first attempt to set out how the right is protected, interpreted and applied globally. Eighteen jurisdictions are examined along with chapters describing context-setting, interdisciplinary approaches, and close analysis of the right in relation to specific challenges and conceptual difficulties. Readers familiar with the right will discover fresh perspectives and those new to the right will learn how it is part of the matrix of rights protecting autonomy, dignity, and privacy.
List of contents
Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction: mapping and implementing legal protection of the right to freedom of thought Patrick O'Callaghan and Bethany Shiner; 2. 'The mind and conscience are the person's most sacred possessions': the origins of freedom of thought in the universal declaration of human rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Christoph Bublitz; Part II. Asia: 3. The right to freedom of thought in Japan Satoshi Yokodaido; 4. The right to freedom of thought in China Heping Dang; 5. The right to freedom of thought in Vietnam Giao Vu Cong; 6. The right to freedom of thought in Malaysia Kalpana Sivabalah; 7. The right to freedom of thought in India Kelly Amal Dhru; Part III. Europe: 8. The right to freedom of thought in Türkiye Emine Ozge Yildirim-Vranckaert; 9. The right to freedom of thought in Germany Nora Hertz; 10. The right to freedom of thought in France Marie-Luce Paris; 11. The Right to Freedom of Thought in the United Kingdom Bethany Shiner; 12. The right to freedom of thought under the European Convention on Human Rights Felicitas Benziger; Part IV. Africa: 13. The Right to Freedom of Thought in Kenya Victoria Miyandazi, Miracle Mudeyi and Harrison Otieno Okoth; 14. The right to freedom of thought in Zambia Christopher Phiri; 15. The right to freedom of thought in Mauritius Neel Raamandarsingh Purmah; 16. The right to freedom of thought in South Africa Mariette Jones; 17. The right to freedom of thought in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Sfiso Bernard Nxumalo; Part V. Americas: 18. The right to freedom of thought in Brazil Lucas Oliveira Vianna; 19. The right to freedom of thought in Chile Eduardo A. Chia and Flavio Quezada; 20. The right to freedom of thought in Colombia Diego González Medina and Sebastián Rubiano-Groot; 21. The right to freedom of thought in the United States Marc Jonathan Blitz; 22. The right to freedom of thought in Canada Dwight Newman; 23. The right to freedom of thought under the American Convention on Human Rights Cláudio De Oliveira Santos Colnago and Bethany Shiner; Part VI. The Right to Freedom of Thought in Context: 24. What is thought and what makes it free? Or, how I learnt to stop worrying and love the forum externum Simon Mccarthy-Jones and Joel Walmsley; 25. Online manipulation as a potential interference with the right to freedom of thought Nina Keese and Mark R. Leiser; 26. Neurorights: is the right to freedom of thought in need of an update? Timo Istace and Catherine Van De Heyning; 27. Freedom of thought: absolute protection of mental privacy and mental integrity? Considering the case of neurotechnology in criminal justice Sjors Ligthart and Naomi Van De Pol; 28. Realising the societal dimensions of the right to freedom of thought in the digital age through strategic litigation Kebene Wodajo; 29. Non-ideal theory and protecting freedom of thought Leslie Francis and John Francis.
About the author
Patrick O'Callaghan is Senior Lecturer in Law at University College Cork and Principal Investigator of the Law and the Inner Self project, funded by an Irish Research Council (Consolidator) Laureate grant (IRCLA/2022/2628). His main area of expertise is in the legal protection of personality rights as that concept is understood in the civilian legal tradition.Bethany Shiner is Senior Lecturer in Law at Middlesex University, London, and is completing her Ph.D. at the University of Oxford on the Right to Freedom of Thought. She is a trained solicitor-advocate with expertise in judicial review and human rights. She has published peer-reviewed research on the law related to data-driven political campaigns, military accountability, and the right to freedom of thought under the European Convention on Human Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights. She co-convenes the Freedom of Thought Network (http://freedom-of-thought.org/).
Summary
The right to freedom of thought features prominently in debates about emerging technologies including neurotechnology and AI, but there is little understanding of its scope, content or application. This handbook presents the first attempt to set out how the right is protected, interpreted and applied globally. Eighteen jurisdictions are examined along with chapters describing context-setting, interdisciplinary approaches, and close analysis of the right in relation to specific challenges and conceptual difficulties. Readers familiar with the right will discover fresh perspectives and those new to the right will learn how it is part of the matrix of rights protecting autonomy, dignity, and privacy.
Foreword
This Handbook is the first survey of how the right to freedom of thought is protected, interpreted and applied globally.
