J.F. is in prison because last year, police discovered a hidden dungeon beneath his house where he held captive and tortured several individuals over the course of decades.
J.F. confessed to the crimes and felt no remorse for his actions.
In fact, he stated that if he were released, he would rebuild his dungeon and find more victims to torture.
However, while walking into the prison to serve his life term, J.F. slipped and hit his head on the concrete sidewalk.
The fall resulted in severe brain damage.
As a result of this brain damage, J.F. has a memory of no more than 24 hours, although he is able to take care of himself.
He cannot remember anything about his life outside of prison.
He has completely forgotten all of the actions that led him to prison.
On top of that, his personality has completely changed.
Where he was once a thoroughly mean individual who took pleasure in torturing people, he is now described by everyone who meets him as a kindhearted soul who would not hurt a fly.
His doctors say that although he has memory issues, he can live and take care of himself for several more decades.
All of his victims are still alive and have lived very difficult and tormented lives since they were released from J.F.’s dungeon.
J.F.’s lawyer is now arguing that J.F. should be freed from prison because he is clearly not the same person as the one who committed those heinous crimes.
Questions
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Is J.F.’s lawyer philosophically, not legally, correct that J.F. should no longer be punished because he is not the same person as the person who committed the crimes?
Notice that there are four positions you could take:
a. J.F. is not the same person, and J.F. should no longer be punished.
b. J.F. is the same person, and J.F. should still be punished.
c. J.F. is not the same person, and J.F. should still be punished.
d. J.F. is the same person, and J.F. should no longer be punished.
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Part of your answer to question 1 is going to depend on how you think of personal identity, or what it is that makes you you. One answer to this question is psychological continuity: the idea that your psychological experiences form one long, unbroken chain. Do you accept this argument? How do your ideas about personal identity affect your answer to question 1?
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Part of your answer to question 1 is also going to depend on how you think about the purpose of punishment. Do you think the purpose of punishment is to rehabilitate an individual so they do not commit the crime again? To keep the prisoner out of society so that society is safer? To pay a debt to society incurred because of the prisoner’s actions? To give the victims some sense of revenge? To deter others from committing the same crime? How do your answers to these questions affect your answer to question 1?
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How important is it that J.F. has a completely new personality? Suppose J.F. had the exact same personality after he fell as before he fell. He has no memory of his crimes and does not know why he is in prison, but he is still very mean. He acts just like he did before he fell; he simply has no memory of his dungeon. Does this change how you view J.F.’s identity or whether he should continue being punished?
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How important is it that J.F.’s victims are still alive and have had very difficult lives? Suppose it has been too soon for his victims to forgive him for his actions. Does this matter to his punishment? What if his victims had completely forgiven him because they are very good people? Does that matter?