The Expanded Self: Society as Self 283“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanityact is moral, and an antisocial act is immoral. Since a basic conflict exists
between individual freedom and social cohesion, we all have antisocial
as well as pro-social instincts. The adjustment and negotiation between
self and mega-self is normal and necessary, and should not be taken with
a sense of guilt. Finally, in a working society, most members are moral
(pro-social) by definition, otherwise the society would have imploded
and perished.
12.11 On Criminal Justice
What steps, then, should a society take against that small number of
antisocial members? The answer is, if their action endangers a society,
they should be segregated from that society for the protection of others.
Education (including psychotherapy) and medication (if appropriate)
should be tried. Punishment as an act of deterrence should be discour-
aged. Incarceration can be used as a means of segregation, although
prison inmates should be made productive members of society by work,
rather than becoming financial parasites. Capital punishment is the least
desirable measure. Not only it is no more effective than other forms of
punishment, it also leaves no chance for the offender to repent or to be
exonerated. (Judging from the many cases of wrongful verdicts that were
overturned by DNA testing, the merit of capital punishment is greatly
in doubt.)
Although in principle criminal justice is straightforward, the imple-
mentation is complicated. I will not further elaborate but rather leave
the details to the experts. Nonetheless, there is one point I like to clarify
as it implicates the fundamental concept of self. This is about human
acts as opposed to acts of man. The law defines a human act as one that
is executed with the conscious intention of the agent (a person), whereas
an act of man is one without this intention, such as by accident or by
mistake. The question arises as to whether an action carried by a person
with a “sick brain” is considered a human act. In fact, defense crimi-
nal lawyers tend to ask for excuse if their clients have a demonstrable