Philosophical Explorations 18 (3):330-343 (2015)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
I argue that psychopathy undermines three common assumptions typically invoked in favor of moderate reasons responsive theories of moral responsibility. First, I propose a theory of psychopathic agency and claim that psychopathic agency suggests that the systems underlying receptivity to reason bifurcate into at least two sub-systems of receptivity. Next, I claim that the bifurcation of systems for receptivity suggests that reactivity is not “all of a piece” but that it too decomposes into at least two subsystems. Lastly, I argue that prior attempts by Fischer and Ravizza to address these concerns contain an appeal to internalism. Since Fischer and Ravizza want their theory to remain agnostic about the nature of reasons for action, this appeal to internalism is problematic for their view. I close by suggesting that if we are to make sense of when and why psychopaths are responsible then a mechanism-based theory of responsibility must be able to explain how different systems of receptivity and reactivity come together to constitute a single mechanism that grounds responsibility ascriptions for action and they must do so without tacitly appealing to implausible forms of internalism about reasons for action.
|
Keywords | responsibility psychopath motivational internalism receptivity reactivity |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1080/13869795.2014.1001426 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility.John Martin Fischer & Mark Ravizza - 1998 - Cambridge University Press.
View all 26 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Psychopathy: Philosophical and Empirical Challenges.Marko Jurjako, Luca Malatesti & John McMillan - 2018 - European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 14 (1):5-14.
Neurosurgery for Psychopaths? The Problems of Empathy and Neurodiversity.Erick Ramirez - 2016 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 7 (3):166-168.
Shame, Embarrassment, and the Subjectivity Requirement.Erick J. Ramirez - 2018 - European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 14 (1):97-114.
From Impairments in Reason-Responsiveness to Diminished Moral Responsibility.Lieke Asma, Leon de Bruin & Gerrit Glas - 2016 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 7 (4):202-224.
Aus der Not eine Tugend machen? Ethische, juristische und praktische Implikationen funktionaler Psychopathen in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft.Jan Dehne-Niemann, Till E. Dehne-Niemann & Volker Lingnau - 2020 - In S. Et al Burger (ed.), Führungsverantwortung und Führungsversagen. Augsburg/München: Rainer Hampp Verlag. pp. 45-68.
Similar books and articles
Receptivity as a Virtue of Argumentation.Kathryn J. Norlock - 2013 - OSSA10 Virtues of Argumentation.
Receptivity to Mystery: Cultivation, Loss, and Scientism.Ian James Kidd - 2012 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 4 (3):51-68.
On the Criminal Culpability of Successful and Unsucessful Psychopaths.Katrina L. Sifferd & William Hirstein - 2013 - Neuroethics 6 (1):129-140.
Revising Reasons Reactivity: Weakly and Strongly Sufficient Reasons for Acting.Robyn Repko Waller - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (3):529-543.
The Search for the Successful Psychopath.Stephanie N. Mullins-Sweatt, Natalie G. Glover, Karen J. Derefinko, Joshua D. Miller & Thomas A. Widiger - 2010 - Journal of Research in Personality 44:554–558.
Doubts About Receptivity.William Robinson - 2006 - PSYCHE: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Research On Consciousness 12.
Diagnosing Blame: Responsibility and the Psychopath.Carl Elliott - 1992 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 17 (2):199-214.
Psychopathy, Ethical Perception, and Moral Culpability.Ishtiyaque Haji - 2010 - Neuroethics 3 (2):135-150.
Receptivity, Possibility, and Democratic Politics.Nikolas Kompridis - 2011 - Ethics and Global Politics 4 (4):255-272.
Moral Insanity and Practical Reason.Carl Elliott & Grant Gillett - 1992 - Philosophical Psychology 5 (1):53 – 67.
Psychopathy: The Incapacity to Have Moral Emotions.Ben Spiecker - 1988 - Journal of Moral Education 17 (2):98-104.
Defining Reactivity: How Several Methodological Decisions Can Affect Conclusions About Emotional Reactivity in Psychopathology.Brady D. Nelson, Stewart A. Shankman, Thomas M. Olino & Daniel N. Klein - 2011 - Cognition and Emotion 25 (8):1439-1459.
Philosophizing in Slovakia: Reflections and Contexts (On the Receptivity of the Philosophical Thought in Slovakia).Rudolf Dupkala - 2009 - Filozofia 64 (6):552-559.
From Enlightenment to Receptivity: Rethinking Our Values.Michael Slote - 2013 - Oxford University Press.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2014-11-25
Total views
188 ( #61,242 of 2,498,778 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
4 ( #170,341 of 2,498,778 )
2014-11-25
Total views
188 ( #61,242 of 2,498,778 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
4 ( #170,341 of 2,498,778 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads