Searching for Norms to Violate. Reply to Henden & Gjelsvik

Abstract

Although I reject neuronormativity -- an idea central to the Brain Disease Model of Addiction (BDMA) -- Henden and Gjelsvik argue that the disease definition might refer to normativity in nonneural domains. They profess that a cognitive dysfunction (e.g., impaired response inhibition), or a mismatch of evolutionary intentions, could also qualify as norm violations, thus legitimizing the disease label. The need for dividing lines is questioned as well. I rebut these criticisms in turn, but I must admit they are thought provoking.