The chapters in this volume investigate whether, and if so how, advances in the mind sciences—chiefl y in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral genetics—might aff ect the moral foundations of legal responsibility practices. Th ese chapters have been arranged under fi ve headings—responsibility and mental capacity; reappraising agency; assessment; disease and disorder; and modifi cation—and in what follows, I survey how the individual chapters engage with issues that fall under these headings. But fi rst is a brief historical interlude to help me explain why there is even reason to suppose that advances in the mind sciences might aff ect the moral foundations of legal responsibility practices.