Responsibility, dysfunction and capacity
Neuroethics 1 (3):199-204 (2008)
Abstract
The way in which we characterize the structural and functional differences between psychopath and normal brains – either as biological disorders or as mere biological differences – can influence our judgments about psychopaths’ responsibility for criminal misconduct. However, Marga Reimer (Neuroethics 1(2):14, 2008) points out that whether our characterization of these differences should be allowed to affect our judgments in this manner “is a difficult and important question that really needs to be addressed before policies regarding responsibility... can be implemented with any confidence”. This paper is an attempt to address Reimer’s difficult and important question; I argue that irrespective of which of these two characterizations is chosen, our judgments about psychopaths’ responsibility should not be affected, because responsibility hinges not on whether a particular difference is (referred to as) a disorder or not, but on how that difference affects the mental capacities required for moral agency.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s12152-008-9022-8
My notes
Similar books and articles
The Selves and the Shoemaker: Psychopaths, Moral Judgement, and Responsibility.Stephen Finlay - 2011 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 49 (s1):125–133.
Psychopathy, Responsibility, and the Moral/Conventional Distinction.David W. Shoemaker - 2011 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 49 (s1):99-124.
The responsibility of the psychopath revisited.Neil Levy - 2007 - Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 14 (2):pp. 129-138.
Responsibility status of the psychopath: On moral reasoning and rational self-governance.Paul Litton - 2008 - Rutgers Law Journal, Vol. No., 2008 39 (349):350-392.
On the Relevance of Neuroscience to Criminal Responsibility.Nicole A. Vincent - 2010 - Criminal Law and Philosophy 4 (1):77-98.
Diagnosing blame: Responsibility and the psychopath.Carl Elliott - 1992 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 17 (2):199-214.
Some Thoughts on Diverse Psychopathic Offenders and Legal Responsibility.Christopher Ciocchetti - 2003 - Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 10 (2):195-198.
Are disorders sufficient for reduced responsibility?Andrew J. Turner - 2009 - Neuroethics 3 (2):151-160.
Analytics
Added to PP
2009-01-28
Downloads
87 (#142,932)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
2009-01-28
Downloads
87 (#142,932)
6 months
2 (#300,644)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
Are Psychopaths Legally Insane?Anneli Jefferson & Katrina Sifferd - 2018 - European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 14 (1):79-96.
Responsibility: distinguishing virtue from capacity.Nicole A. Vincent - 2009 - Polish Journal of Philosophy 3 (1):111-26.
References found in this work
Reasons reactivity and incompatibilist intuitions.Michael McKenna - 2005 - Philosophical Explorations 8 (2):131-143.
Moral and legal responsibility and the new neuroscience.Stephen J. Morse - 2005 - In Judy Illes (ed.), Neuroethics: Defining the Issues in Theory, Practice, and Policy. Oxford University Press.