Article Title: Spot the psychopath

Article Summary

The article at hand peers into the mental makeup of psychopaths, trying to locate factors that make them different from or similar to ‘normal’ people. The generally established fact when it comes to them is that they clinically lack empathy, but the major debate arises when trying to place empathy as part of either logic or emotion. One camp of researchers and scientists tries to place it within the ambit of reason, therefore branding psychopaths as deficient in the capacity to use reason well, and the same thing happens for people who believe empathy is a part of emotion – but both camps fail on some or the other ground. This fundamental dilemma brings to light problems in the nature of ‘empathy’ itself, exposing that it may arise more from concerns about self than about other people. If this idea is processed, we will begin to see that the ‘normal’ person is a lot less empathetic or kind that she or he is made out to be. Also, the idea leads us to consider that psychopaths are not totally different from us personality-wise, but just a little more intense when it comes to certain traits. They can adjust or cut out empathy to a greater extent and with greater flexibility than we can. As for the question of the slippery scope of reason and emotion, which emerges a central question of this article – it is found that fear can act as a bridge between both.