Can you pass judgement on someone without context?
Discussion
If you have someone who is genuinely mentally ill, can they really be held responsible for their actions?
I'm not talking about chavs who choose to break the law rather than better themselves 'because they come from a rough background'. Instead, I'm thinking of people with serious mental disorders who probably aren't really aware of normal morality. There are some acts so vile that you just can't imagine a human being getting anything out of them - does that mean they're not really the actions of whoever did it, but symptoms of a diseaser?
I'm not talking about chavs who choose to break the law rather than better themselves 'because they come from a rough background'. Instead, I'm thinking of people with serious mental disorders who probably aren't really aware of normal morality. There are some acts so vile that you just can't imagine a human being getting anything out of them - does that mean they're not really the actions of whoever did it, but symptoms of a diseaser?
ked the dog?
No, the limit of my criminal career is a couple of traffic offences.
Just heard on the radio that the weirdo in Austria is pleading some sort of diminished responsibility. I don't think it applies in his case - I'm from the Westcountry and I still know incest is a bit wrong - but there have been some other cases where it does seem the person in question is genuinely derranged.
surely then with that rational you can dissassociate anyone from any crime by simply assuming they are mentally ill because they do not reflect normal morality ?
Beating an old lady for her purse ? I can't see how anyone can do that, but doesn't mean they are mentally ill....
Killing a dog and then eating the heart ? I cant see how anyone could do that, but does that mean they are mentally ill ??
Obviously two ends of the sword there...
Beating an old lady for her purse ? I can't see how anyone can do that, but doesn't mean they are mentally ill....
Killing a dog and then eating the heart ? I cant see how anyone could do that, but does that mean they are mentally ill ??
Obviously two ends of the sword there...
Edited by tricky69 on Monday 16th March 14:56
That Austrian dude... he is not mentally ill, he is a f**king evil peodophile... the line between mentally ill and evil is blurred at the sickest point, but when an act like this is uncovered what difference does it make, either way they need to be dealt with by taking them out of society
Almost certainly there are such people. I'll take a wild guess you're at least partly thinking of that Austrian guy currently in court for the bizzare and disturbing things he apparently did.
Harsh as it might sound however, I don't really have too much of a problem with lumping them in with "normal" criminals. My reasoning is that the further you go down the road of trying to explain people's actions the more liberty and privacy we end up forfeiting to try and catch it earlier and earlier.
Child molestation, serial killing and grotesque abuse are wrong on a different level and in a different way to burglary and common assault but both fall outside the behaviour of what is acceptable to people living in a civilised society and therefore these people must be removed and/or rehabilitated as that society deems appropriate.
The difference I suppose is that I have no empathy with this stuff. Not that I have empathy with burglars, muggers or thugs but I can understand the impule to quick and easy money or to thumping someone you don't like. I restrain that impulse hence am not a criminal.
I have no impulse towards serial murder or child molestation, it is beyond me why anyone should want to do that, and in a way I do pity those people who have, especially as they are mostly from abusive backgrounds themselves. All the more reason however to remove those people from circulation to stop the cycle.
Harsh as it might sound however, I don't really have too much of a problem with lumping them in with "normal" criminals. My reasoning is that the further you go down the road of trying to explain people's actions the more liberty and privacy we end up forfeiting to try and catch it earlier and earlier.
Child molestation, serial killing and grotesque abuse are wrong on a different level and in a different way to burglary and common assault but both fall outside the behaviour of what is acceptable to people living in a civilised society and therefore these people must be removed and/or rehabilitated as that society deems appropriate.
The difference I suppose is that I have no empathy with this stuff. Not that I have empathy with burglars, muggers or thugs but I can understand the impule to quick and easy money or to thumping someone you don't like. I restrain that impulse hence am not a criminal.
I have no impulse towards serial murder or child molestation, it is beyond me why anyone should want to do that, and in a way I do pity those people who have, especially as they are mostly from abusive backgrounds themselves. All the more reason however to remove those people from circulation to stop the cycle.
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