Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde
If people like Dugan (a car) did what they did (break down) because they were different from us (faulty parts), what point is there in whipping it for failing to work (take responsibility for their actions)?
Because we still don't have the luxury/technology of enabling the "driver" to be aware of his own situation, right? So the driver has no choice but to use his faulty car.
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No, that's not quite what I meant. The central problem is about the extent to which we actually get to
choose. Awareness or non-awareness doesn't change the fact that we operate machines that are prone to breaking down. Being aware, however, adds a burden of responsibility on the "driver" to do something to fix the problem.
The further question is whether we are actually the drivers of our bodies, or are, in fact,
driven by our bodies. If we behave the way we do because of the way we
are, to what extent can we be held responsible for our actions?
An individual is born a certain way. To what extent do we have the right to judge the actions that arise as a result of the way he is born?
Quote:
Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde
EDIT: Now, I don't mean people like Dugan shouldn't take responsibility (retribution for the victims!), but the point is, if Dugan's own body (in it's natural state, without drugs or any other intervention) suggests him to go around killing, where are you placing the responsibility on?
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On his family, his friends and his community. On his society. As James Fallon's evidence suggests, someone could be born with a criminal mind and yet not become a criminal. The trigger, Fallon observed, is an abusive environment.
That's all well and great until you realise that one doesn't get to
choose his parents or the environment he grows up in.
Hence, perhaps, the creation of the Sibyl System, and an entirely new ethical system that requires people to take active responsibility for their psychological health, on the assumption that the failure to do so would lead to escalating criminal behaviour.