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Poll: How do you account for psychopaths?
This poll is closed.
I don’t believe God is responsible for our morality
50.00%
4 50.00%
I don’t accept that psychopaths really exist
0%
0 0%
Psychopaths are choosing to ignore their innate sense of right and wrong
0%
0 0%
God mistakenly misses out psychopaths when granting morality
0%
0 0%
It’s the psychopath’s fault they have no empathy
25.00%
2 25.00%
It’s because of “the fall”
0%
0 0%
Other
25.00%
2 25.00%
Total 8 vote(s) 100%
* You voted for this item. [Show Results]

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Theists: how do you account for psychopaths?
#72
RE: Theists: how do you account for psychopaths?
(May 23, 2018 at 3:10 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:
(May 23, 2018 at 11:09 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: True, but he's not being immoral, either. Though I guess if he were to secretly wish death on people, that would be immoral, but psychopath means you don't have empathy, not that you necessarily like it when people die or suffer.

The capacity to be moral is also the capacity to be immoral, so, no, a psychopath wouldn't have that capacity. To be a moral being is to have the feeling that one has a universal duty to behave in certain ways, as an immediate and direct part of imagining the behavior. A psychopath doesn't have such thoughts. Everything is essentially equal in the eyes of a psychopath.

Is a psychopath not made in the image of God? Is the law not written in their hearts? Do psychopaths have different souls than normal individuals? Isn't God responsible for the nature of our souls?

According to Neo and many traditional Christians, it is the fact of God's moral perfection that is the "cause" of the existence of objective morality. Yet with psychopaths, God's perfection is essentially inert. What does that say about the notion that God's moral perfection is responsible for morals? If God's moral perfection is not the cause of morals, then what part does He play?

I notice you claimed that most laws come from morals, ignoring my question about where such norms, laws, and morals would come from if we all were psychopaths. Apparently you chose not to consider the question. Will you consider it now?

From what I understand, psychopathy is a disorder where you lack the ability to feel empathy. Psychopaths still understand right from wrong, they just don't care, on an emotional level.

Since I think morality is an objective reality that exists in the world around us, I believe it would still exist independent of what people thought or if they were all psychopaths.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly." 

-walsh



Messages In This Thread
RE: Theists: how do you account for psychopaths? - by Catholic_Lady - May 23, 2018 at 3:40 pm

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