Gage's Actions example essay topic

I will consider that presence of particular mental faculties as well as exposure to certain realms of experience need to be taken into account when determining if someone should be regarded as responsible for his or her actions. I will present an objection to this based on the common view discussed in class that mature adults should be held accountable and punished for their reactions; argue that such an objection is flawed due to the empirical data presented by Antonio Damasio and Susan Wolf. Antonio Damasio's research has speculated that damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex impairs an individual's reasoning, decision- making and social behavioral skills. One of the subjects that Damasio based his research on is Phineas Gage. Gage suffered an injury to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which had a grave impact on his ability to act with complete thought and reason. Phineas Gage is an example of an individual who was once of sound mind but upon injury to the prefrontal cortices experienced many detriments involving rational thinking.

Prior to the head injury, Gage was friendly, dependable and loyal. His co-workers held him with regard as a salt of the earth type of person. After the initial impact of the explosion (sending a steel rod through his skull), Gage was seemingly aware, able to speak and practically walked away from the accident unassisted. Throughout Gage's recovery his intellect, speech and strength never seemed affected by the injury. However, Gage's ability to be compliant and lucid suffered drastic changes. Throughout his recuperation Gage became more and more unreliable, and capricious.

After being released to the care of his family, Gage began to wander the streets without destination. He was not able to attain gainful employment or maintain friendly relationships. Due to the accident, Gage was no longer the same man. The injury did not affect his speech, ability to walk or function, but Gage's ability to rationalize or live in a socially acceptable way did not remain intact. Gage emerged from the incident as a completely different person.

The rational being that he once was no longer existed. Gage died in San Francisco under the custodial care of his family twelve years after the injury. Damasio was able to specifically locate the disturbed regions of Gage's brain with help from Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The images produced were able to capture the exact location of the lesion.

Damasio's use of MRI technology revised some of the medical data that had been discovered regarding the injury. Damasio and his team were able to dispel the traditional view that Gage's injury involved the Broca's area. These images also explained why Gage's motor skills were still intact. The motor cortices were unaffected as well. Due to the acute area that was involved (ventromedial region of both frontal lobes) Damasio was able to corroborate David Ferriers' claim that specific areas of the brain are dedicated to the process of rationalizing. Phineas Gage was not responsible for his inappropriate outburst or aloofness.

These were actions that were out of his control. The area that handled Gage's discipline and rational thought process were disconnected or injured during the accident. The region was never repaired or reconnected. Gage's actions that manifested after the injury were completely out of his control.

Damasio also conducted a test with individuals who have suffered from ventromedial prefrontal cortex damage (E.V. R) and compared their results against the performance of brain damaged and normal individuals. The groups were directed to choose from four decks of cards that produced a pattern of reward or punishment. The subjects all had the option of selecting cards from any of the four decks. Unlike the E.V.R. patients, normals and brain-damaged subjects chose cards from the good decks, yielding some loss but eventual gain. The E.V.R. patients however, repeatedly selected from the bad decks of cards. E.V.R.'s selected from the deck that had the most immediate gain but then selected from the deck that had severe delayed punishment. The E.V. R subjects were seemingly unable to process future reward or loss, leading Damasio to reason that people who suffer defects to this specific region of the brain lose the ability to rationalize.

He states " When we combine the profiles of both basic task and variant tasks, we are left with one reasonable possibility: that these subjects are unresponsive to future consequences, whatever they are, and are thus more controlled by immediate prospects- (Antonio Damasio pg 14)". Damasio's test provides evidence that people who suffer such injuries should not be looked upon to be responsible for their actions. It appears that these individuals do not have the mechanisms to produce balanced thought process because the region that executes rational thinking is impaired. Susan Wolf also believes there are instances when an individual should not be looked upon as a responsible being if they do not possess sanity.

She claims that if someone has an Insane Deep Self View they would not have the ability to control their freedom of will or revise their values. Wolf believes due to a source beyond their own control (i.e. deprived childhood, socially acceptable inhumane acts practiced by Nazis etc) that the individual should not be deemed morally responsible for their actions. She claims that since the mandated values derive from insane beings (i.e. Hitler, slaveowners etc) the individuals who practice these falsely believed morally permissible actions are not fully sane because they are unable to cognitively or normatively recognize the faults in their actions. Their environment forces these individuals to take part in inhumane acts and rationalizes these actions by deeming them morally acceptable. Wolf believes that the Deep Selves of these individuals are unavoidably insane. Wolf supports her theory by providing an example of a boy named JoJo.

Raised by a militant, mentally ill, dictator JoJo grows up and continues the family tradition of torturing and killing subjects. The actions that JoJo commits are perfectly reasonable to him. According to Wolf, JoJo's Deep Self is insane. Throughout his life JoJo has been conditioned to perform insane acts. Since his Deep Self is insane, JoJo does not have the resources to correct or revise his warped values because his character lacks the ability to know right from wrong.

Wolf postulates that this combination absolves JoJo of responsibility for his actions. It is a common belief that regardless of medical injuries or environmental factors; mature adults are responsible for their own actions and should be held accountable. This point of view does not exclude individuals who suffer from severe mental retardation. Some people believe that regardless of mental capacity if a crime is committed the motivator of the action should be removed from society and punished for their actions. I have heard in class discussion theories of how society should confine these types of individuals prove the errors of their ways and force them to become remorseful.

But as Damasio's research has shown some individuals will not be able to respond to their crime the way a person with normal mental faculties would because, at this time, their ability to respond is irreparably damaged. Forcing someone to produce a normal response under these conditions would be an act of cruelty. I agree with Damasio and Wolf's claims that certain mental capacities should be intact in order to consider someone responsible for their actions. If an individual has an impairment that impedes their ability to respond they should not be punished for their wrongdoings. These individuals lack the capacity to rationalize and reason. Blaming these individuals for their inability to process emotion would be just as inhumane as punishing a quadriplegic for not running out of the way of a moving car.

Work Cited Insensitivity to future consequences following damage to human prefrontal cortex: Damasio- Broken Minds Philosophy of Disorder Course Book.