On the Nature of Psychopathy

Psychopathy is best understood as a specific deficit in moral understanding and not merely as a cluster of antisocial behaviors. Psychopathy is the absence of conscience. While popular culture depicts psychopaths as remorseless serial killers, many psychopaths never commit homicide, and conversely some killers (e.g., soldiers acting on moral convictions) retain a functioning conscience. What unites all psychopaths is their incapacity to grasp moral reasons for actions. In this paper, we clarify psychopathy’s conceptual contours; distinguish it from related conditions, such as, legal insanity, pragmatic criminality, and volitional disorders. We also critique the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) for its behavioral rather than motivational focus. We argue that psychopathy amounts to a congenital moral blindness, with signifi cant implications for diagnosis, treatment, and moral psychology.