PSYC2241 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Executive Functions, Flashlight
4 Jan 2018
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How emotions are made: the secret life of the brain. If something interfers with your ability to choose your actions freely, the law says that you might be less responsible for the harm you caused. Many cases where people get off because they were in a severe emotional state: the heat of passion defense depends on some familiar assumptions from the classical view of emotion. For you to be considered culpable, it is not enough that you performed a harmful action. Women are expected to be victims, and men aggressors: bottom line: sometimes a biological probelm can interfere with your brain"s ability to choose your actions with intent. Maybe you grow a brain tumor, or some neurons begin to die in just the wong places. But mere viability in the brain-- in its structure, function, chemistry, or genetics-- is not an extenuating circumstance for a crime.
