Neurosurgery for psychopaths? The problems of empathy and neurodiversity

American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 7 (3):166-168 (2016)
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Abstract

I argue that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a bad approach for incarcerated psychopaths for two reasons. First, given what we know about psychopathy, empathy, and DBS, it is unlikely to function as an effective treatment for the moral problems that characterize psychopathy. Second, considerations of neurodiversity speak against seeing psychopathy as a mental illness in the first place.

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10.1080/21507740.2016.1218387

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Erick José Ramirez
Santa Clara University

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References found in this work

Moral motivation.David O. Brink - 1997 - Ethics 108 (1):4-32.
Neurosurgery for Psychopaths? An Ethical Analysis.Dietmar Hübner & Lucie White - 2016 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 7 (3):140-149.
Receptivity, reactivity and the successful psychopath.Erick Ramirez - 2015 - Philosophical Explorations 18 (3):330-343.

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