As a philosophy student, issues of free will were some of the most complex and intriguing that I studied. Is free will real or a chimera? If real, is it always applicable? How do we judge such questions?
At one of my favorite blogs, The Volokh Conspiracy, guest blogger Adam Kolber addresses these topics with a fascinating example.
Consider the subject of this medical case study, who had no prior history of unusual sexual behavior. At around age 40, he began to demonstrate pedophilic behaviors (e.g., he made sexual advances toward his prepubescent stepdaughter). The man was found guilty of child molestation and given the opportunity to successfully complete a sexual addiction treatment program in lieu of going to jail. Unfortunately, he made sexual advances toward others in the treatment program and was forced to leave the program. Prior to being sent to jail, he complained of severe headaches and was taken to the hospital. Doctors soon discovered that he had a brain tumor in his orbitofrontal cortex. After the tumor was surgically removed, his sexual behavior returned to normal. You have to read the full case study for all the details. The bottom line, though, is that the study authors think it quite likely that the tumor played a causal role in the subject’s inappropriate behavior.
Many of my students have the intuition that the man should not be deemed criminally responsible for his sexual activities while he had the tumor. He is certainly not responsible for having the tumor, and it seems like the crime would not have happened but for the tumor. In most jurisdictions, however, I think the subject would be unlikely to mount a successful insanity defense.
It has been argued for ages that if one is incapable of exercising rational free will, but has made choices to lose the ability to exercise rational free will, that one is still responsible for bad outcomes that may occur in such situations. Should someone whose brain is malfunctioning, however, be considered someone who had a choice in resulting bad behavior?
Do check out the the blog and Kolber’s more recent posts.