Everybody is capable of murder.
Those who plan murder for personal gain or revenge are evil.
Those who kill at random and without motive are psychopaths...but are they evil or just mad?
Is psychopathy a mental disease like schizophrenia or is it just a personality trait?
This is the question that lingers over the trial of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
Modern science is discovering that not all psychopaths inevitably become murderers. There is a nurture factor (a trauma experience) that triggers the urge to murder.
If a psychiatrist can provide evidence to support this, then the psychopath murderer can claim diminished responsibility. In fact this is a small step towards claiming insanity.
So, is a psychopath who murders, and who has shown that he has experienced trauma in childhood that has triggered the urge to kill, evil?
Complicated isn't it?
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