Moral responsibility in psychopathy: A clinicophilosophical case discussion

Abstract

SummaryThis article examines the concept of moral responsibility in psychopathy. In doing so it shows how philosophical ideas can be used to help approach a complex issue in psychiatry. Building on a fictitious case, we explore two arguments: the exempting view, which proposes that psychopaths lack any ability to function as moral agents; and the mitigating view, which concedes that there are impairments in moral understanding in psychopathy, but takes these to be insufficient to be completely exempting, instead concluding that such individuals are at least partially morally responsible. Typically, clinicians (and the courts) are more comfortable with a mitigating view, whereas philosophers tend to extol an exempting view. Through discussion of the case, we illustrate the value that philosophy brings to clinical psychiatry and the ways in which psychiatry can enrich philosophical debate.Learning Objectives• Appreciate the diversity of views about moral responsibility in psychopathy, ranging from mitigation to exemption• Understand the philosophical arguments used to support both the mitigating and exempting views• Consider the benefits of philosophical reasoning in explicating a complex problem in psychiatry

Ought we align the values of artificial moral agents?

“…This is also referred to as the 'intelligence explosion' argument. 28 As a general note, we should stress that the justification or refutation of these or other fears is not part of our claim in any way, nor is the claim that these fears or their causes can or cannot be mitigated when needed. The sole purpose of outlining these fears is to acknowledge and detail the reasons some or most people may have for fearing advanced artificial agents, as a way of explaining a possible reluctance of human society to grant them full moral agency.…”

“…26 See also ]. 27 See [35: §4] 28 For the intelligence explosion argument, see its original presentation in Good [36], and interesting discussions in [37,38] or on MIRI's website: https:// intel ligen ce. org/ ie-faq/, Accessed 26-Oct-2022.…”