The emotional depravity of psychopaths and culpability

Legal Theory 9 (1):63-82 (2003)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this paper, I restrict discussion to cases of psychopathy in which it is assumed that psychopaths who satisfy epistemic requirements of responsibility, including the requirement that one is culpable for an action only if one performs it in light of the belief that one is doing wrong, can and do perform actions they take to be immoral or illegal. I argue that in such cases, the well-documented emotional impairment of psychopaths fails to subvert moral culpability. In particular, it does not undermine the sort of control required for moral blameworthiness and, hence, assuming all other conditions of responsibility have been met, the psychopaths of concern are indeed culpable for their behavior. Drawing, however, from certain lessons regarding the effects of coercion on responsibility, I propose that emotional impairment is a factor that should abate, perhaps even significantly, negative reaction to or treatment of such agents.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,343

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-12-23

Downloads
82 (#264,102)

6 months
15 (#168,777)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Ishtiyaque Haji
University of Calgary

Citations of this work

Emotion.Charlie Kurth - 2022 - New York, NY: Routledge.
The Limits of Free Will: Selected Essays.Paul Russell - 2017 - New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Responsibility and the Condition of Moral Sense.Paul Russell - 2004 - Philosophical Topics 32 (1-2):287-305.
Moral responsibility and the problem of manipulation reconsidered.Ishtiyaque Haji & Stefaan E. Cuypers - 2004 - International Journal of Philosophical Studies 12 (4):439 – 464.

View all 12 citations / Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references