Implanted Minds

Intracerebral interventions raise special ethical problems. Examples are attempts at replacing lost or altered brain cells with the help of stem cells or the therapeutic application of Deep Brain Stimulation. Many medically relevant questions and ethical concerns have to be clarified before these intracerebral interventions can become routine: If the brain is conceived as the carrier of an individual's personality or of the self then operations on the brain can be seen as intrusions upon one's personality. The book addresses historical, philosophical, social and legal implications of these new developments in the neurosciences and aims at resolving some of the dilemmas that go hand in hand with "implanted minds".