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Ethics and the Brains of Psychopaths: The Significance of Psychopathy for Our Ethical and Legal Theories

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Brain Theory

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Abstract

The first well-publicized success of the neuroscience revolution was Damasio’s (1995) case history of a man referred to as EVR, who began to show signs of psychopathy following surgery to remove a brain tumor above the orbits of his eyes. Since then, the neuroscience of psychopathy and sociopathy has steadily moved forward to begin to identify what is different about their brains. Not all psychopathy is caused by environmental conditions, however. There is mounting evidence that some psychopaths are born that way. The existence of such people within a society has profound implications for our attempts to build ethical and just communities. How should we manage the psychopaths amongst us? In this chapter, we will examine this and other questions. We will begin with a description of the current method of diagnosing psychopaths. Then we will describe four competing neuropsychological theories of what is different about their brain functions. In the final sections, we will trace the implications that the existence of psychopaths has for our theories of ethics and of legal and moral responsibility.

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Authors
  1. William Hirstein
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  2. Katrina Sifferd
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ghent University, Belgium

    Charles T. Wolfe

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© 2014 William Hirstein and Katrina Sifferd

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Hirstein, W., Sifferd, K. (2014). Ethics and the Brains of Psychopaths: The Significance of Psychopathy for Our Ethical and Legal Theories. In: Wolfe, C.T. (eds) Brain Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369580_9

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