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Insanity and Legal Action
Schopenhauer’s theory of madness as a defect of memory, while unquestionably dated, nonetheless retains significant intuitive appeal and is at least reconcilable with modern understandings of mental function and insanity.1 If accepted as a working theory in conjunction with a more modern understanding of the operation of the brain, the theory leads to a conception of insanity as a failure of understanding of consequences. In turn, this conception may help explain precisely why the insane are not considered responsible for their actions, and may suggest that the insane cannot be said to have acted at all.
Modern cognitive theory suggests that memory is structured primarily around stories. Thus, rather than remembering a sequence of events, we impute to those events some causal structure that enables us to understand and therefore remember the events. Unfortunately, this usually results in significant distortion of the events in our memory as we fill in standard imagery in the place of actual occurrences.2 One conclusion that seems well supported by these observations is that our memory, as we usually think of it, is intimately bound up with our understanding of causation and consequences. Presumably, a defect of memory, which Schopenhauer claims is at the root of all insanity, could thus impair a natural sense of consequences. Conversely, a failure to understand consequences could easily result in just the kind of fragmented and unrecognizable memory that Schopenhauer discusses.
The more standard categorizations of insanity, especially as described by Macniven, can be reconciled with this view. Macniven specifically attributes to manic-depressive psychosis a tenden...
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...RESPONSIBILITY, supra note 1, at 75–85.
7 H.L.A. Hart, Ascription of Responsibility (1949), in FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY, supra note 1, at 143–148.
8 See, e.g., A.I. Melden, Action (1956), in FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY, supra note 1, at 149–160. Melden proposes a conception of action that, like Hart’s, takes into account a broad set of circumstances surrounding any physical movement or act of will. Unlike Hart, Melden sees these circumstances not as a tool of judgment and ascription, but rather as inherently giving the action a particular meaning.
9 See Barbara Wootton, Crime, Responsibility, and Prevention, in CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL LAW (1963). In the criminal context, Lady Wootton’s suggestions for combining the functions of mental institution and prison might promote greater mental health of prisoners with mental problems irrelevant to their crimes.
In conclusion, it is through these contradictions between history and memory that we learn not to completely rely on either form of representation, due to the vexing nature of the relationship and the deliberate selection and emphasis. It is then an understanding that through a combination of history and memory we can begin to comprehend representation. ‘The Fiftieth Gate’ demonstrates Baker’s conclusive realisation that both history and memory have reliability and usefulness. ‘Schindler’s List’ reveals how the context of a medium impacts on the selection and emphasis of details. ‘The Send-Off’ then explains how the contradiction between memory and history can show differing perspectives and motives.
Tsuang, M. T., Faraone, S. V., & Glatt, S. J. (2011). Schizophrenia. New York: Oxford University Press.
As human beings, it is becoming more of a second nature to us to multi-task. As the world is technologically advancing more and more every day, there are becoming more distractions. Social-media is flourishing, reality TV show ratings are going up, and humans even unintentionally check their phones every two minutes. In this day of age, multi-tasking is proving to promote inefficiency rather than productivity.
Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” and Kathryn Schulz’s “Evidence” are two essays that have more in common than one might think. Although on two totally different topics, they revolve around the central point of the complexities of the human mind. However, there are some key elements both writers have contemplated on in differing ways.
Mcnaughton, David. "An Unconnected Heap of Duties?" The Philosophical Quarterly 46: 433-447. Obtained from PHIL 250 B1, Winter Term 2014 Further Readings – Ethics. University of Alberta eClass.
Feinberg, Joel and Russ Shafer-Landau, eds. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group, 2002.
Students may easily lose their attention and concentration with easy access to such incredibly rich store of information. With such new technologies as television, internet and social networks, people nowadays tend to multitask more often as they have easy access to a large amount of information. However, such easy access may sometimes be a distraction. Study “Your Brain on Computers” reports that heavy multitaskers perform up to 20% worse on most tests compared to performance of light multitaskers. Working efficiency of people, who multitask, is claimed to be significantly lower. The same is with concentration. (Crovitz 353) As a result, they are not engaged in working process. Students tend to be easily distr...
quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it, that he did not
The insanity defense pertains that the issue of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which a person accused of crimes may be alleviated of criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease. “The term insanity routinely attracts widespread public attention that is far out of proportion to the defense’s impact on criminal justice” (Butler,133). The decision of this defense is solely determined by the trial judge and the jury. They determine if a criminal suffers from a mental illness. The final determination of a mental disease is solely on the jury who uses evidence and information drawn from an expert witness. The result of such a determination places the individual accused, either in a mental facility, incarcerated or released from all charges. Due to the aforementioned factors, there are many problems raised by the insanity defense. Some problems would be the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justify the placement of the judged “mentally ill” offenders and the total usefulness of such a defense. In all it is believed that the insanity defense should be an invalid defense and that it is useless and should potentially be completely abolished.
Van-Inwagen, Peter. "Freedom of the Will." Feinberg, Joel and Russ Shafer-Landau. Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013. 409-418. Print.
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
In the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind stresses the importance of memory and how memories shape a person’s identity. Stories such as “In Search of Lost Time” by Proust and a report by the President’s Council on Bioethics called “Beyond Therapy” support the claims made in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility all play a significant role in cases where the defendant’s mind is abnormal while committing a crime. The definition of abnormal will be reviewed in relationship to each defence. In order to identify how these three defences compare and contrast, it is first important to understand their definition and application. The appropriate defence will be used once the facts of the cases have been distinguished and they meet the legal tests. The legal test of insanity is set out in M’Naghten’s Case: “to establish a defence…of insanity it must be clearly proved that, at the time of committing the act, the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.” To be specific, the defect of reason arises when the defendant is incapable of exercising normal reasoning. The defect of reason requires instability in reasoning rather than a failure to exercise it at a time when exercise of reason is possible. In the case of R v Clarke, the defendant was clinically depressed and in a moment of absent-mindedness, stole items from a supermarket...
The insanity defence is defined by the M’Naughten Rules2 which state that it must be proved that the defendant, at the time of the act, was under a defect of reason, derived from disease of the mind3 and that he wasn’t aware that what he was doing was wrong. Recently the definition of ‘disease of the mind’ has been modernised in “an impairment of mental functioning caused by medical condition”4.
Simmons, A. John (1992). The Lockean Theory of Rights. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 127.