This post is by Katrina Sifferd , Professor of Philosophy at Elmhurst College regarding her recent paper ‘ Are Psychopaths Legally Insane? ’ co-authored with Anneli Jefferson , Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Philosophy department at the University of Birmingham. Exploring the nature of psychopathy has become an interdisciplinary project: psychologists and neuroscientists are working to understand whether psychopathy constitutes a mental disorder or illness, and if yes, of what sort; and moral philosophers and legal scholars are using theories of psychopathy to understand the mental capacities necessary for culpable action and whether psychopaths are morally and legally responsible. In our recent paper , Anneli Jefferson and I argue that a diagnosis of psychopathy is generally irrelevant to a legal insanity plea. It isn’t clear that psychopathy constitutes a true mental disorder; but even if it is a disorder, tests for legal insanity require that specific mental defi...
A blog at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and mental health