Ethical issues in moral and social enhancement

7.5.3. Separating thought from action and overdetermination
The God Machine is a case of overdetermination. Thus, one could ask about the 
extent to which the lack of ability to do otherwise in close counterfactual worlds 
should be the main concern related to the impairment in freedom. In discussing the 
Rational Persuader Machine, I have argued that overdetermination and the resultant 
foreknowledge about counterfactuals is less of a problem than other aspects of the 
God Machine.
To consider this point further let us look at the following example of 
overdetermination: 
Hall’s Brain Implant.
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Hall is a convict with a history of 
violent outbursts and PTSD. He received several prison 
sentences after reacting with rage and being physically violent 
after a slight provocation. He has a device implanted that 
monitors the activity of his brain and would interrupt the activity 
in cingulate
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when the implant detects brain markers associated 
with a high level of fear or rage. He has made an all-things-
considered judgement to have the cingulate implant, as he does 
not endorse his uncontrollable fits of rage on any basis (moral, 
prudential or epistemic). There are some side effects, but they 
are all-things-considered acceptable to Hall. The device can be 
switched off completely but it requires an advance appointment 
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The development of this case has been inspired by a case of a patient with a brain injury, 
who despite his best efforts to stay ‘on track’, faced repeated incarceration after violent 
outbursts. An analogical case, although more rhetorical in its use of sexual urges leading to 
offence, is presented in DeGrazia (2014).
29
Although psychosurgery involving creating lesions in the brain is rare, a small number of 
patients with intractable aggression are currently subjected to cingulatomy or capsulotomy. 
See for example: Jiménez-Ponce et al. (2011). DBS has been proposed as a treatment for 
violent outbursts (Maley et al. 2010).

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with a doctor.
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Where previously Hall would go into rage, he 
now does not. In triggering situations, he can feel increasing 
anger but at some point the device kicks in and the anger 
diminishes. Often but not always he notices when the device 
kicks in. The device also has a display that allows him to 
monitor its activity. However, Hall is free to employ other 
emotion modulation mechanisms and is learning to regulate his 
emotions and actions earlier on: by calming himself down, 
reappraising when he notices his anger rising, noticing triggers 
and exiting the triggering situation, etc. Sometimes he is 
successful in regulating his emotions and averting behavioural 
impacts, sometimes the device kicks in. He can practice self-
control with the assurance that he will not harm anyone in the 
process, as there is a ‘safety net’ if his self-control fails. 
 
This scenario appears to me to be significantly less problematic than the God 
Machine scenario. Overdetermination undermining a person’s ability to do 
otherwise seems not to be the main concern here – the difference between those 
cases does not lie in the ability to do otherwise in any particular situation. 
Moreover, the action of the device is direct in the sense of acting directly on the 
brain.
The first difference lies in the fact that the influence of the brain implant is not 
beyond moral review in the sense of offline reflection and control, although it is 
beyond the agent’s control at the moment of acting. The second difference is that it 
aids the agent in making the connection between her all-things-considered 
judgement and actions, although this happens in a somewhat more roundabout way 
than if Hall exercised self-control. The third difference (which I would like to 
highlight here) is that the agent’s will is not heteronomous to the same extent as in 
30
This condition found its way to the example partly to accommodate a concern raised by 
Harris in the context of the God Machine related to ‘agreeing to enslave oneself,’ i.e., 
agreeing to the diminishment of freedom that cannot be revoked, and partly with an eye on 
the current practice of DBS in medical contexts, in which the device can be switched off at 
any time by the user. The criminal justice-related and impulsivity related use would likely 
offer the ability to switch the device off but not at any point.

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the God Machine scenario. Thus, it is not overdetermination (and thus the inability 
to do otherwise) that is a main issue here.