Difference between revisions of "APR 15"

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==22. APR 15==
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==24: APR 15. Unit Six: Moral Responsibility and Criminal Justice==
  
===Assigned Work===
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===Assigned===
  
:*van Tulleken, C17, "The True Cost of Pringles" - externalities in the production of UPF.
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:*[https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/317421-blame Radio Lab Episode on Blame and Moral Responsibility]
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:*[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13554790903329182?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=nncs20 Article abstract, "Klüver–Bucy syndrome, hypersexuality, and the law"]
  
===In Class===
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===In-class===
  
:*Documentary report on “Seaspiracy”
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:*Some basics of the moral responsibilty and free will discussion
  
===van Tulleken, C17, "The True Cost of Pringles"===
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===Introduction to philosophical problems with Moral Responsibility and the Law===
  
:*Pringles case. UPF avoiding snack tax. In pringles case, ironically by claiming not much potato contentPringles eventually loses the caseVery contorted argumentsTax evasion is a kind of externality.
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:*'''Basic Questions:''' 
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::*1. Do we praise people for things that they don't deserve credit for and blame people for things that are not their fault?   
 +
::*2. Is our concept of moral responsibility (and all of the behaviors and institutions based on it) wrong somehow? Is it out of sync with ideas about free will, what we know about the brain, and the causes of crime?
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::*3. What exactly do we mean when we say, "You are responsible for that"? Start a listCausal, moral, both, neitherDo you find yourself referencing some idea of a "normally competent person"? When would you also hold someone responsible for becoming a normally competent person? What sorts of conditions make is more or less likely that you will become a normally competent person?
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::*4. If we clarify our understanding of moral responsibility, will we still approach criminal punishment with retributive intent?
  
:*UPFs and climate.  Additional fossil fuel inputs, inefficiency of UPF foods for meat production (feed ratio).
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:*'''Some concepts for thinking about moral responsibility:'''
  
:*UPS and monoculture agriculture - Palm Oil particularly problematic258.
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::*'''Moral Responsibility''' - The idea that people can be held responsible, in some fashion, for their actionsTwo main kinds of moral responsibility are "'''desert-based''' or "moral desert" moral responsibility" (db-MR) and "'''accountability''' moral responsibility" (accountability).
  
:*Carbon footprint of animal foods260 - 100g of beef 25kg of carbon dioxide / Beans .65kg.
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::*'''Moral desert Responsibility (db-MR)''' -
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:::*Def: You "morally deserve" praise and blame because: a) you did (or failed to do) something '''that you knew you were expected to do or not do''' and b) you were capable of doing or not doingIn the case of violating the law, it follows that you are '''blameworthy and deserving of punishment.''' This includes the idea that we '''ought''' to punish you and if we don't, we might be doing something morally wrong. Typically, '''retributive punishment''' is a pain (from fines or incarceration) '''proportional''' to offense. (We are interested in law breakers, but the same analysis could apply to "deserving praise".)
  
:*Soy as animal food is relatively efficient feed ratio, but requires alot of processing. 261To speed weight gain, we feed animals UPF feed.
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:::*You might deserve blame for failing any of a wide range of expectations. Expectations can come from friends and family, from social norms, or from the law. Examples: Your partner expects you to call if you are late for dinner (they should accept responsibility), you deserve to be treated civilly by others, you worked a shift and deserve to be paid. You failed to observe the speed limit and you deserve a ticket. Notice how different these contexts areYou can blame someone without believing that they deserve punishment, but '''when we use the term db-MR in the legal context, we do mean that you deserve a painful punishment proportional to the crime.'''
  
:*Soy and Amazon rainforest depletion.  Water depletion.  Amazon goes from carbon sink to carbon producer. 
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::*'''Accountability Moral Responsibility''' -
  
:*Antibiotic use in animal production may be contributing to anti-biotic resistance.   
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:::*If we just want to understand why someone failed in their responsibility and, importantly, whether they will do it again, we might ask them to give an "account" of their behavior and thinking ("What were you thinking!?") Giving an account for having done or failed to do things we normally expect of others can be done quite apart from holding someone blameworthy (even if we might use the term "blame" in ordinary language). This might be an important distinction if you become a skeptic about moral responsibility as a result of this unit. Accountability MR is typically focused on understanding potential threats to society from an offender and, where possible rehabilitating offenders.  '''Accountability MR may include accepting restrictions on one's liberty, from incarceration to probationary restrictions, but it does not entail "deserving to be punished by infliction of pain proportional to the crime".'''  
  
:*UPF and plastic packaging.
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::*'''Main Point'''You can still have accountability MR without db-MR.  Is accountability enough? Why/why not?
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::*Moral desert can also be contrasted with "morally arbitrary" (recall Rawls). So, we would say you do not deserve praise or blame for things that are "'''morally arbitrary'''":  things you did little or nothing to achieve (like an inheritance), things about you that were just your good fortune (good impulse control, a good noodle, athletic ability, at ease in social life...) or deficits and challenges that you have that you did nothing to deserve (having epilepsy, a substance abuse problem, anger issues, etc.). '''If you decide that you don't deserve to be blamed (or blame others) for things that are morally arbitrary, then you might prefer “accountability responsibility” to "db-MR".'''
  
===In-Class===
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::*'''Free will and responsibility''' -- Most people would agree that if we cannot freely will our actions, we cannot be held responsible for them.  But what sort of free will is required? Is normal choosing (neurologically described) free will or do we have to break with the causal fabric of the universe! (Libertarian Free will).  If the world is deterministic, everything has been "decided" (Including basketball games!).  Does that mean there is no free will, or just that it might not be what we think it is?
  
:*Reports on documentary viewing. Reconciling reporting dates.
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===Radio Lab Episode on Blame and Moral Responsibility===
:*SCP: Short Critical Paper on the Ethics of Eating - Assigned
 
  
===Winders and Ransom, "Introduction to the Global Meat Industry"  ===
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:*'''Segment 1:''' Story of Kevin and his wife, Janet.  Kevin is arrested for child pornography. 
  
:*'''Intro'''
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::*15 years earlier. Epilepsy seizures returned after surgery two years earlier. Can't drive so he meets Janet from work, who drives him to work. Romance... Still more seizures.  Another surgery. Music ability in tact.  But then his food and sexual appetites grew, played songs on the piano for hours.  Disturbing behavior.  Really disturbing behavior.
  
::*major concerns and questions: expansion of global meat industry makes several problems worse: environmental damage, effects on climate change, clean water, food insecurity, world hunger, consumer health, workers' rights and well-being, and (not least of all) the treatment of animals. 
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::*Reporter tries to get at who it was who did itKevin claims compulsionDownloads and deletes files.
::*Note: the ethical case against meat is not limited to the problem of animal ethicsSome of the non-animal ethics problems can be ameliorated by not participating in the industrial supply chain.   
 
::*Paradoxically, increased meat production can create food insecurity for some. 2.  
 
  
::*Global meat industry is a product of gov't and industry collaborating:
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::*Orin Devinsky: Kevin’s neurologist. Testified in court that it wasn't Kevin's fault.  
::*Overproduces food animals relative to population.
 
::*Creates dangers for environment and workers. (esp. from hyperslaughter)
 
  
:*'''Global Meat Industry, 1960-2016'''
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::*Neurological dive: deep parts of our brain can generate weird thoughts, but we have a "censor".  Maybe Kevin lost that part of his brain.  Observed in post-surgery monkeys.
  
::*Per capita consumption doubled from 1960 to 2016: 20kg/person/year to 40Mostly in Global North.   
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::*Lee Vartan, prosecutor -- Can't be impulse control.  Porn at home, but not at work.  He must have known that it was wrong.  But Tourette's can be circumstantially triggered even though it is clearly neurologicalPoignant exchange with Janet about staying in the relationship'''Could you have stayed in the relationship?'''  '''Kluwer-Bucy'''.  Months before sentencing. Medication makes him normal, but eliminates his libido. 5 yrs. - home arrest. Judge acknowledges prosecutor's pointHow does the legal system assign blame when you are sometimes “in control” and sometimes not? She adds: '''You could have asked for help'''. (Reflect on this a bit.)  24 months federal prison 25 months of house arrest.  2008-2010. '''Do you agree with prosecutor's Vartan's point? The Judge's additional point? Why or why not? Consider other fact patterns / cases. Are there cases where "could have asked for help" doesn't carry weight? This one? What would your sentence have been, especially in light of the anti-libido meds?''' '''(Short group discussion on questions in bold.)'''
::*US has highest consumption by this data: 113.9kg/person/year (250 pounds a year! 4.8 pounds a week.)
 
::*45 million metric tons (MMT) to 259 MMT.
 
::*$65 billion to about $400 billion.   
 
::*US meat exports '60 to '15 -- 2.6 MMT to 27 MMT -- We're not doing this to feed us?
 
::*Note meat consumption increases occurred while population was also increasing. Population increase 1960-2016 3 billion to 7.4. 
 
  
::*Note that US has declined from peak consumption, also some Europeans, esp Denmark, Netherlands, and French.
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:*'''Segment 2:'''  Blame - person or brain. (26:30 mins)
::*Increases in numbers of animals: 270% for pigs and 900% for chickens. Over 1.4 billion cows and pigs.
 
  
::*Meat exports: most from global northAsian and emerging industrial countries big importers.  ('''Meat consumption follows wealth increases'''.) p. 12: increases in China, for example, 3.5kg to 57.6kg, Mexico almost tripled, Russia doubled.  
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::*[https://law.duke.edu/fac/farahany/ Nita Farahany] - neurolaw professor (law and philosophy!)Might be lots of cases. One count: 1600 cases from 1% sampled.  (Counter-argument: Isn't this just like blaming everything else for what you do wrong?  Isn't it too easy?). Thought experiment: Imagine a deaf person, who can’t hear a child in burning building. You wouldn't hold the deaf person liable for the death of the child. "Emotional inability" would also be damage to a physical structure (as in the ear).
 +
 
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::*David Eagleman, Neuroscientist - Makes critical point: Neuroscience isn't so precise. Like looking at earth from space.  New technologies may show us how experience is written in our brain. (Back to Descartes: mind is the ghost in the machine.)  Slippery slope, the brain is always involved. Even healthy brain. Blameworthiness might be the wrong question.  Person vs. biology doesn't really make sense anymore.  The "choosey part” of the brain (the homunculus! - Explain: Sapolsky will make fun of this idea.) 36:00 minutes. Funny exchange. '''Self-modification''' comes up. The choosey part is also part of the brain. One system. Raises possibility that all decisions are determined.
  
:*'''How did global meat grow so much?'''
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::*Claim from Eagleman: Legal system should drop moral blame.  Adopt utilitarian approach.  Predict recidivism. Point system exists for sex offendersBetter than people’s "unguided judgement" (50% accurate). Point system and algorithm: 70%. Currently there is appearance bias for example from juries. [Mention controversies over sentencing algorithms [https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/01/21/137783/algorithms-criminal-justice-ai/].  
::*1. Increases in feed grain productionNow more global feed grain production than food grain production (rice and wheat). Along with ag tech to put more land into production, GE corn and soybeans increased yields.
 
::*2. Trade policies - WTO - promotes free trade agreements for meat import/export.
 
::*3. increased corporate concentration. both production and processing.
 
::*Concentration of processing produced scaling up.  Read from p. 15.  (Recall Maureen Ogle's history chapter.)
 
  
::*former communist countries became markets.
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::*A point system might be very predictive, but it might involve convicting someone of a future crimeWould it be? Would that be ok?
 
:*'''Consequences of global meat for consideration'''
 
::*1. Corporate concentration - Global food corporations exert significant power over farmers and national governments. Many poor countries with food insecurity export meat to wealthier countries.   
 
::*2. Tension bt. cheap meat and food insecurity - Smallholder meat production in decline from competition.
 
::*3. Social and environmental injustice. Many environmental effects of meat production fall disproportionately on poor countries and poor within rich countries.
 
  
===SCP: Ethics of Eating Animals===
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::*Nita Frahany - Blame might serve social function of articulating norms. 
  
:*'''Stage 1''': Please write an 800-1000 hundred word essay on the following prompt by '''Monday, April 22, 2023, 11:59pm.'''
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:*'''Segment 3:''' Dear Hector / Dear Ivan
::*Topic: Consider various arguments and information we have been discussing related to both the ethics of eating animals and food from animals (such as egg and dairy products).  Which are the strongest?  Which are the weakest?  How do ethical arguments about eating animals apply differently to different food animals and products or contexts?  If you do not find any of the arguments persuasive, try to provide an alternative position.  Otherwise, indicate, drawing on your knowledge of dietary change, what steps a carnivore might make to "trade up" to a more ethical eating pattern.
 
  
:*'''Advice about collaboration''': Collaboration is part of the academic process and the intellectual world that college courses are based on, so it is important to me that you have the possibility to collaborateI encourage you to collaborate with other students, but only up to the point of sharing ideas, references to class notes, and your own notes, '''verbally'''. Collaboration  is also a great way to make sure that a high average level of learning and development occurs in the class. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to NOT share text of draft answers or outlines of your answerKeep it verbalGenerate your own examples.
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::*Bianca Giaever (radio producer who did the story on Hector) - Hector Black, 86Hector's backstory - WWII vet, Harvard, joins civil rights movement in Atlanta, moves South, adopts Patricia, a neglected child who lived nearby. Patricia's story (becomes a beautiful and productive person), college, adopts kids -- Patricia is murdered (strangled) and raped by Ivan Simpson. Hector feels retributive impulse. Ivan confesses. Hector considers whether he wishes the death penalty for him, decides no. Hector's statement at sentencing. Writes a letter of forgiveness to the murderer, which starts correspondence. Is it important that Ivan doesn’t forgive himself? Ivan's story - son of schizophrenic mom, adopted, horrorIvan abusedMom tries to drown Ivan and two other children.
  
:*Prepare your answer and submit it in the following way. '''You will lose points''' if you do not follow these instructions:
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::* Ivan tells the original story of Patricia's murder. Burglary. Drug use. Returns to Patricia’s house. Conversation with Patricia.  Didn’t originally intend to kill her.  Patricia give him food. Gets high on crack. Ivan hears a voice that sometimes comes to him. Commits the murder. Can't make sense of it. Wants death penalty.
  
::# To assure anonymity, you must remove your name from the the "author name" that you may have provided when you set up your word processing application. For instructions on removing your name from an Word or Google document, [[https://wiki.gonzaga.edu/alfino/index.php/Removing_your_name_from_a_Word_file click here]].
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::*Do we still blame Ivan Simpson the same way?  Hector tells his story. Many letters exchanged. A strange bond. Hector has self-doubts about his behavior toward Ivan - sending care packages to Ivan???(Maybe he's just a weird guy or is he on to something?) '''How do you evaluate Hector’s approach to Ivan?'''
::# Format your answer in double spaced text, in a typical 12 point font, and using normal margins. Do not add spaces between paragraphs and indent the first line of each paragraph.   
 
::# '''Do not put your name in the file or filename'''.  You may put your student ID number in the file, but '''not in the filename'''. Save your file for this assignment with the name: EatingAnimals.
 
::# To turn in your assignment, log into courses.alfino.org, click on the "#3: Ethics of Eating Animals" dropbox.
 
::# If you cannot meet a deadline, you must email me about your circumstances (unless you are having an emergency) '''before''' the deadline or you will lose points. 
 
  
:*'''Stage 2''': I will grade and briefly comment on your writing using the peer scores as an initial ranking.  Assuming the process works normally, most of my scores probably be within 1-2 points of the peer scores, plus or minus.
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::*'''Does Ivan's story change your view of the kind of threat he poses -- one from choosing evil/failing a responsibility vs. compulsion?’’’

Latest revision as of 17:28, 15 April 2025

24: APR 15. Unit Six: Moral Responsibility and Criminal Justice

Assigned

In-class

  • Some basics of the moral responsibilty and free will discussion

Introduction to philosophical problems with Moral Responsibility and the Law

  • Basic Questions:
  • 1. Do we praise people for things that they don't deserve credit for and blame people for things that are not their fault?
  • 2. Is our concept of moral responsibility (and all of the behaviors and institutions based on it) wrong somehow? Is it out of sync with ideas about free will, what we know about the brain, and the causes of crime?
  • 3. What exactly do we mean when we say, "You are responsible for that"? Start a list. Causal, moral, both, neither. Do you find yourself referencing some idea of a "normally competent person"? When would you also hold someone responsible for becoming a normally competent person? What sorts of conditions make is more or less likely that you will become a normally competent person?
  • 4. If we clarify our understanding of moral responsibility, will we still approach criminal punishment with retributive intent?
  • Some concepts for thinking about moral responsibility:
  • Moral Responsibility - The idea that people can be held responsible, in some fashion, for their actions. Two main kinds of moral responsibility are "desert-based or "moral desert" moral responsibility" (db-MR) and "accountability moral responsibility" (accountability).
  • Moral desert Responsibility (db-MR) -
  • Def: You "morally deserve" praise and blame because: a) you did (or failed to do) something that you knew you were expected to do or not do and b) you were capable of doing or not doing. In the case of violating the law, it follows that you are blameworthy and deserving of punishment. This includes the idea that we ought to punish you and if we don't, we might be doing something morally wrong. Typically, retributive punishment is a pain (from fines or incarceration) proportional to offense. (We are interested in law breakers, but the same analysis could apply to "deserving praise".)
  • You might deserve blame for failing any of a wide range of expectations. Expectations can come from friends and family, from social norms, or from the law. Examples: Your partner expects you to call if you are late for dinner (they should accept responsibility), you deserve to be treated civilly by others, you worked a shift and deserve to be paid. You failed to observe the speed limit and you deserve a ticket. Notice how different these contexts are. You can blame someone without believing that they deserve punishment, but when we use the term db-MR in the legal context, we do mean that you deserve a painful punishment proportional to the crime.
  • Accountability Moral Responsibility -
  • If we just want to understand why someone failed in their responsibility and, importantly, whether they will do it again, we might ask them to give an "account" of their behavior and thinking ("What were you thinking!?") Giving an account for having done or failed to do things we normally expect of others can be done quite apart from holding someone blameworthy (even if we might use the term "blame" in ordinary language). This might be an important distinction if you become a skeptic about moral responsibility as a result of this unit. Accountability MR is typically focused on understanding potential threats to society from an offender and, where possible rehabilitating offenders. Accountability MR may include accepting restrictions on one's liberty, from incarceration to probationary restrictions, but it does not entail "deserving to be punished by infliction of pain proportional to the crime".
  • Main PointYou can still have accountability MR without db-MR. Is accountability enough? Why/why not?
  • Moral desert can also be contrasted with "morally arbitrary" (recall Rawls). So, we would say you do not deserve praise or blame for things that are "morally arbitrary": things you did little or nothing to achieve (like an inheritance), things about you that were just your good fortune (good impulse control, a good noodle, athletic ability, at ease in social life...) or deficits and challenges that you have that you did nothing to deserve (having epilepsy, a substance abuse problem, anger issues, etc.). If you decide that you don't deserve to be blamed (or blame others) for things that are morally arbitrary, then you might prefer “accountability responsibility” to "db-MR".
  • Free will and responsibility -- Most people would agree that if we cannot freely will our actions, we cannot be held responsible for them. But what sort of free will is required? Is normal choosing (neurologically described) free will or do we have to break with the causal fabric of the universe! (Libertarian Free will). If the world is deterministic, everything has been "decided" (Including basketball games!). Does that mean there is no free will, or just that it might not be what we think it is?

Radio Lab Episode on Blame and Moral Responsibility

  • Segment 1: Story of Kevin and his wife, Janet. Kevin is arrested for child pornography.
  • 15 years earlier. Epilepsy seizures returned after surgery two years earlier. Can't drive so he meets Janet from work, who drives him to work. Romance... Still more seizures. Another surgery. Music ability in tact. But then his food and sexual appetites grew, played songs on the piano for hours. Disturbing behavior. Really disturbing behavior.
  • Reporter tries to get at who it was who did it. Kevin claims compulsion. Downloads and deletes files.
  • Orin Devinsky: Kevin’s neurologist. Testified in court that it wasn't Kevin's fault.
  • Neurological dive: deep parts of our brain can generate weird thoughts, but we have a "censor". Maybe Kevin lost that part of his brain. Observed in post-surgery monkeys.
  • Lee Vartan, prosecutor -- Can't be impulse control. Porn at home, but not at work. He must have known that it was wrong. But Tourette's can be circumstantially triggered even though it is clearly neurological. Poignant exchange with Janet about staying in the relationship. Could you have stayed in the relationship? Kluwer-Bucy. Months before sentencing. Medication makes him normal, but eliminates his libido. 5 yrs. - home arrest. Judge acknowledges prosecutor's point. How does the legal system assign blame when you are sometimes “in control” and sometimes not? She adds: You could have asked for help. (Reflect on this a bit.) 24 months federal prison 25 months of house arrest. 2008-2010. Do you agree with prosecutor's Vartan's point? The Judge's additional point? Why or why not? Consider other fact patterns / cases. Are there cases where "could have asked for help" doesn't carry weight? This one? What would your sentence have been, especially in light of the anti-libido meds? (Short group discussion on questions in bold.)
  • Segment 2: Blame - person or brain. (26:30 mins)
  • Nita Farahany - neurolaw professor (law and philosophy!). Might be lots of cases. One count: 1600 cases from 1% sampled. (Counter-argument: Isn't this just like blaming everything else for what you do wrong? Isn't it too easy?). Thought experiment: Imagine a deaf person, who can’t hear a child in burning building. You wouldn't hold the deaf person liable for the death of the child. "Emotional inability" would also be damage to a physical structure (as in the ear).
  • David Eagleman, Neuroscientist - Makes critical point: Neuroscience isn't so precise. Like looking at earth from space. New technologies may show us how experience is written in our brain. (Back to Descartes: mind is the ghost in the machine.) Slippery slope, the brain is always involved. Even healthy brain. Blameworthiness might be the wrong question. Person vs. biology doesn't really make sense anymore. The "choosey part” of the brain (the homunculus! - Explain: Sapolsky will make fun of this idea.) 36:00 minutes. Funny exchange. Self-modification comes up. The choosey part is also part of the brain. One system. Raises possibility that all decisions are determined.
  • Claim from Eagleman: Legal system should drop moral blame. Adopt utilitarian approach. Predict recidivism. Point system exists for sex offenders. Better than people’s "unguided judgement" (50% accurate). Point system and algorithm: 70%. Currently there is appearance bias for example from juries. [Mention controversies over sentencing algorithms [1].
  • A point system might be very predictive, but it might involve convicting someone of a future crime. Would it be? Would that be ok?
  • Nita Frahany - Blame might serve social function of articulating norms.
  • Segment 3: Dear Hector / Dear Ivan
  • Bianca Giaever (radio producer who did the story on Hector) - Hector Black, 86. Hector's backstory - WWII vet, Harvard, joins civil rights movement in Atlanta, moves South, adopts Patricia, a neglected child who lived nearby. Patricia's story (becomes a beautiful and productive person), college, adopts kids -- Patricia is murdered (strangled) and raped by Ivan Simpson. Hector feels retributive impulse. Ivan confesses. Hector considers whether he wishes the death penalty for him, decides no. Hector's statement at sentencing. Writes a letter of forgiveness to the murderer, which starts correspondence. Is it important that Ivan doesn’t forgive himself? Ivan's story - son of schizophrenic mom, adopted, horror. Ivan abused. Mom tries to drown Ivan and two other children.
  • Ivan tells the original story of Patricia's murder. Burglary. Drug use. Returns to Patricia’s house. Conversation with Patricia. Didn’t originally intend to kill her. Patricia give him food. Gets high on crack. Ivan hears a voice that sometimes comes to him. Commits the murder. Can't make sense of it. Wants death penalty.
  • Do we still blame Ivan Simpson the same way? Hector tells his story. Many letters exchanged. A strange bond. Hector has self-doubts about his behavior toward Ivan - sending care packages to Ivan???. (Maybe he's just a weird guy or is he on to something?) How do you evaluate Hector’s approach to Ivan?
  • Does Ivan's story change your view of the kind of threat he poses -- one from choosing evil/failing a responsibility vs. compulsion?’’’