This chapter lists the major findings of the book, acknowledges the limitations of its analysis, and lists a number of topics for future research that the book suggests. The four most important findings are as follows: (1) The struggle between hierarchs and resisters to hierarchy is conducted in large part in moral terms because each side must form and sustain coalitions, and morality is an important resource for doing this because compliance with moral norms removes or reduces the most important obstacles to effective coalition-building. (2) The struggle is co-evolutionary, with the interaction of opposing moral appeals, resulting in the construction of new moral concepts, principles, and justifications for the rightful accession to and uses of unequal power. (3) Under certain conditions, this struggle results in social changes that are deemed progressive from the standpoint of a wide range of moralities. (4) There is no guarantee that the struggle will in the long-run produce morally progressive results, and what progress has been achieved was highly contingent upon a fortuitous convergence of conditions; nevertheless, the fact that there have been recurring patterns of progressive change indicates that further progress is possible.

Emerging neurotechnology offers increasingly individualised brain information, enabling researchers to identify mental states and content. When accurate and valid, these brain-reading technologies also provide data that could be useful in criminal legal procedures, such as memory detection with EEG and the prediction of recidivism with fMRI. Yet, unlike in medicine, individuals involved in criminal cases will often be reluctant to undergo brain-reading procedures. This raises the question of whether coercive brain-reading could be permissible in criminal law. Coercive Brain-Reading in Criminal Justice examines this question in view of European human rights: the prohibition of ill treatment, the right to privacy, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and the privilege against self-incrimination. The book argues that, at present, the established framework of human rights does not exclude coercive brain-reading. It does, however, delimit the permissible use of forensic brain-reading without valid consent. This cautionary, cutting-edge book lays a crucial foundation for understanding the future of criminal legal proceedings in a world of ever-advancing neurotechnology.

This chapter concludes the argument of the book with a final comparison to Alvin Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology; challenges to theologians, philosophers, and biblical scholars; and suggests further avenues for research.