ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that there is an explanation that requires distinguishing between different kinds of empathy and that brings to bear a "fine cuts" approach at the neural and psychological levels of explanation. With a new understanding of the deficits of psychopaths, many have argued that psychopaths are not morally accountable for their actions because they seem to lack any capacity for fundamental moral understanding. There is anecdotal evidence that some autism spectrum disorder (ASD) subjects stick with rules when they really ought to see that there are moral reasons for making exceptions. The appeal to stimulus-reinforcement deficits in psychopaths helps explain the idea that psychopaths and ASD subjects differ in fundamental ways. Psychopaths, lacking an understanding of victim-authorization, are not apt objects of moral accountability. The common ground of the prudential and moral failures of psychopaths is the incapacity for a reflective normative orientation.
