ABSTRACT
The normative structures of the criminal law are problematic. There is an implicit assumption which underpins the criminal law that mind and body are separate. In mental condition defences it adopts a materialist stance. The mind is abnormal or diseased - a malfunction of the brain is defined as a disease of the mind. The chapter explores that the criminal law is a body of law which has as one of its purposes a need to promulgate the desirability or undesirability of certain types of behaviour. It focuses on the gap between medical, scientific and philosophical approaches and the legal construction of responsibility in the area of both sane and insane automatism that is one of the areas. The law through its requirement that actions be voluntary before criminal responsibility may be attributed to the actor is placing an emphasis on the need for agency in evaluations of culpability.
