What Is the Mind? Can Justice Exist Without It?

Guiding Questions

• What is “the mind”? Is it the same as the brain?

• Is a mind necessary for responsibility — and for justice?

• Can there be justice without consciousness or awareness?

Mind, Brain, and Justice

When we say someone “should be held accountable,” we assume they have a mind — the capacity for thought, intention, and decision.

But what exactly is the mind?

• Is it a soul? A product of brain activity? A social construction?

• If someone lacks conscious awareness — due to illness, age, or disability — are they still responsible?

• And if an AI system can think, learn, and speak, does that mean it has a mind? Should justice apply to it?

Philosophical Perspectives

René Descartes

Believed that mind and body are distinct. He declared, “I think, therefore I am.” For him, justice presupposes thought.

David Chalmers

Distinguished the “easy” problems of brain function from the “hard problem” — explaining why we have conscious experience at all.

Daniel Dennett

Argued that the mind is not a thing but a pattern — a way of organizing behaviors and processes.

Patricia Churchland

Claimed that the mind is just what the brain does — and that neuroscience can explain it.

Thought Experiment

You see someone beating another person with a stick.

You rush to intervene — until you realize: the attacker is sleepwalking. He’s reliving a childhood memory, unaware of where he is.

Should you call the police?

Should he be punished?

Two Views on Mind and Justice

Justice Requires Mind

Only beings with awareness and moral agency can be justly judged. No mind, no responsibility, no justice.

Justice as a Social Tool

Justice is not about consciousness — it’s a human system for regulating behavior. Even the unconscious may be held accountable, if society decides to do so.

Borderline Cases

• Are babies responsible for their actions?

• Should someone in a coma be punished for what they did before?

• Can a robot that mimics thought be judged if it causes harm?

• If a person with mental illness commits a crime — who is acting: the person or the illness?

Reflect and Discuss

• Can justice apply to those without awareness or free will?

• If the mind is unclear or disputed, how should we assign blame or credit?

• What really makes an action “wrong” — the intention, the result, or something else?

Suggested Readings

• René Descartes – Meditations on First Philosophy

• David Chalmers – The Conscious Mind

• Patricia Churchland – Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain

• Thomas Nagel – What Is It Like to Be a Bat?

Justice depends on agency — but what if agency itself is uncertain? This lesson opens a deeper philosophical inquiry into how the mind shapes justice. In the next lesson, we ask: Do we truly choose our actions — or is free will an illusion?