European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 14 (1):79-96 (2018)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
The question of whether psychopaths are criminally and morally responsible has generated significant controversy in the literature. In this paper, we discuss what relevance a psychopathy diagnosis has for criminal responsibility. It has been argued that figuring out whether psychopathy is a mental illness is of fundamental importance, because it is a precondition for psychopaths’ eligibility to be excused via the legal insanity defense. But even if psychopathy counts as a mental illness, this alone is not sufficient to show the insanity defense is applicable; it must also be shown that, as a result of the illness, specific deficits in moral understanding or control are present. In this paper, we show that a diagnosis of psychopathy will generally not indicate that a defendant is eligible for an insanity defense. This is because the group of individuals subsumed under the diagnosis is so heterogeneous that while some psychopaths do show significant impairments in affect and control which may impact on their responsibility, many psychopaths are not incapacitated in a way relevant to responsibility.
|
Keywords | Psychopathy mental disorder dysfunction criminal responsibility insanity defense |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
Reprint years | 2018 |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.31820/ejap.14.1.5 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
A Cognitive Developmental Approach to Morality: Investigating the Psychopath.R. Blair - 1995 - Cognition 57 (1):1-29.
Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law.H. L. A. Hart - 1968 - Oxford University Press.
Fairness and the Architecture of Responsibility.David O. Brink & Dana K. Nelkin - 2013 - Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility 1:284-313.
The Responsibility of the Psychopath Revisited.Neil Levy - 2007 - Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 14 (2):pp. 129-138.
View all 41 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Biocognitive Classification of Antisocial Individuals Without Explanatory Reductionism.Marko Jurjako, Luca Malatesti & Inti Brazil - 2020 - Perspectives on Psychological Science 15 (4):957-972.
Doctors Without ‘Disorders’.Lisa Bortolotti - 2020 - Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 94 (1):163-184.
The Insanity Defence Without Mental Illness? Some Considerations.Luca Malatesti, Marko Jurjako & Gerben Meynen - 2020 - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 71.
The Societal Response to Psychopathy in the Community.Marko Jurjako, Luca Malatesti & Inti Angelo Brazil - 2021 - International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
View all 9 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
A New Legal Treatment for Psychopaths? Perplexities for Legal Thinkers.Maria Isabel Gonzalez-Tapia, Ingrid Obsuth & Rachel Heeds - 2017 - International Journal of Law and Psychiatry:DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.04.004.
On Blaming and Punishing Psychopaths.Marion Godman & Anneli Jefferson - 2017 - Criminal Law and Philosophy 11 (1):127-142.
Dangerous Psychopaths: Criminally Responsible But Not Morally Responsible, Subject to Criminal Punishment And to Preventive Detention.Ken Levy - 2011 - San Diego Law Review 48:1299-1395.
Psychopathy, Diminished Capacity and Responsibility.M. S. Nair & R. Weinstock - 2007 - In A. Felthouse & H. Saß (eds.), The international handbook of psychopathic disorders and the law: Laws and policies, vol II. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 275–301.
Is Psychopathy a Mental Disease?Thomas Nadelhoffer & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong - 2013 - In Nicole Vincent (ed.), Neuroscience and legal responsibility. Oxford University Press. pp. 229–255.
Comment: Holding Psychopaths Morally and Criminally Culpable.Michael J. Vitacco, Steven K. Erickson & David A. Lishner - 2013 - Emotion Review 5 (4):423-425.
“Psychopathy, Moral Reasons, and Responsibility”.Erick Ramirez - 2013 - In Alexandra Perry C. D. Herrera (ed.), Ethics and Neurodiversity.
Psychopathy, Mental Time Travel, and Legal Responsibility.Andrew Vierra - 2016 - Neuroethics 9 (2):129-136.
Neurosurgery for Psychopaths? The Problems of Empathy and Neurodiversity.Erick Ramirez - 2016 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 7 (3):166-168.
Responsibility, Incompetence, and Psychopathy.David O. Brink - 2013 - In The Lindley Lecture. University of Kansas.
Psychopathy, Responsibility, and the Moral/Conventional Distinction.David W. Shoemaker - 2011 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 49 (s1):99-124.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2018-09-13
Total views
85 ( #138,465 of 2,519,499 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
6 ( #116,789 of 2,519,499 )
2018-09-13
Total views
85 ( #138,465 of 2,519,499 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
6 ( #116,789 of 2,519,499 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads