Papers by Robin Mackenzie
Law and Anthropology, 2009
The Modern Language Review, 1996
I INTRODUCTION Essentialism is unfashionable today. Nonetheless, Aristotle's concep-tion of ... more I INTRODUCTION Essentialism is unfashionable today. Nonetheless, Aristotle's concep-tion of the universe as a multiplicity of forms, each with an essence which could be isolated by establishing its nature and purpose, has long provid-ed a rdliable tool for legal analysis. Classically, ...
1994 to paid carers, but unfortunately they could not be contacted before the decision to admit H... more 1994 to paid carers, but unfortunately they could not be contacted before the decision to admit HL. Consideration was given as to whether the Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 should be used, but as HL was compliant, this was not thought to be necessary. A decision was ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 21507740 2014 873620, Jan 30, 2014
Current Drug Abuse Reviews, Jan 6, 2015
Health-related psychedelic research should focus on helping us flourish, not just remedying ill-h... more Health-related psychedelic research should focus on helping us flourish, not just remedying ill-health or addiction. We don't know enough about how psychedelics could enhance human flourishing. Factors promoting health-through-flourishing include finding meaning in life, spiritual practices, comfortable levels of social bonds, emotionally/physically satisfying sex in a long-term monogamous relationship and control over one's daily life. Psychedelic research could find more. Neuroscience anchors psychedelic research into disease and disorder, e.g. addiction, PSTD, migraine, anxiety, pain etc. Neurophenomenological psychedelics research could illuminate relationships between health, ASC/NOSCs and cognitive liberty to promote human flourishing. If we accept the self as an epiphenomenon of subsystems within the brain, we 'know' 'unconsciously', but are not aware of, many things which affect our lives profoundly. These include control over identifying, remembering and forgetting our states of mind and how to move between them. A prerequisite for integrated investigations into ASC/NOSCs is the establishment of a taxonomic knowledge base which lists, categorises and characterises ASC/NOSCs to enable us to choose specific states of mind and move securely among them. Or, in other words, to enable us to exercise our cognitive liberty safely. I believe that human health and flourishing would be enhanced were we able to direct our states of being by consciously choosing them. Given the promise of mindfulness techniques to enhance our health, happiness and spiritual growth, constructing both personal and generic classifications of salient ASC/NOSCs makes sense. Laws need to change. The neuroscience of pleasure, love, spirituality, decision-making, pattern recognition and location of meaning should inform health-enhancing psychedelic research while promoting flourishing through cognitive liberty. As part of cognitive liberty, our end-of-life choices should include how we die. In other words, our idea of the good death should include access to psychedelics. Dying high is increasingly likely to become a popular choice as baby boomers age and place their economic clout behind the reform of end-of-life laws as well as drug laws. Achieving such crucial legal changes depends partly on the ability to produce research to anchor evidence based law and policy. Research into psychedelics, ASC/NOSCs and the neurobiology of the dying process is essential.
Tizard Learning Disability Review, 2012
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply critical legal analysis to laws, policies and ref... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply critical legal analysis to laws, policies and reforms focused on special educational needs (SEN) and equality in England and to suggest a Neurodiversity spectrum statement. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews current legal and policy initiatives in SEN, together with recent reforms in equality law. Findings – While past and current policies may have laudable aims, tensions such as a lack of integration of education, health and social services have had prejudicial outcomes for children with SEN, their families/carers, and the professionals involved. Originality/value – Legal reforms promise to remedy some problems, but must be underpinned by adequate resourcing, appeal procedures, and remedies which foster the enforcement of legal duties. Some resources for families with children with SEN are noted.
Journal of Money Laundering Control, 1998
In this article the author proposes to traverse various views on money in order to contend that w... more In this article the author proposes to traverse various views on money in order to contend that while antiquated notions of its materiality continue to bedevil English legal structures, the law will fail to keep up with current commercial practices, and, equally seriously, fail to detect, ...
MacKenzie, Robin. and Sakel, M. (2011) Neuroscience of Cruelty as Brain Damage: Legal Framings of... more MacKenzie, Robin. and Sakel, M. (2011) Neuroscience of Cruelty as Brain Damage: Legal Framings of Capacity and Ethical Issues in the Neuro-rehabilitation of Motor Neurone Disease and Behavioural Variant Fronto-temporal Dementia Patients'. In: Freeman, M., ed. Law & Neuroscience: ...
Ethics and Information Technology, 2012
... R. Batchelor et al. ... Measures of legal competence have been criticised for testing only co... more ... R. Batchelor et al. ... Measures of legal competence have been criticised for testing only cognitive aspects of deci-sion-making while ignoring emotional aspects, sequela of neurodegenerative conditions and neurodivergences (Mac-kenzie and Watts 2011a, b; Mackenzie and ...
Neuroethics, Jun 8, 2010
Abstract We are unlikely to stop seeking pleasure, as this would prejudice our health and well-be... more Abstract We are unlikely to stop seeking pleasure, as this would prejudice our health and well-being. Yet many psychoactive substances providing pleasure are outlawed as illicit recreational drugs, despite the fact that only some of them are addictive to some people. Efforts to ...
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Papers by Robin Mackenzie