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Article Summary: The Brain On Trial

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Throughout the article “The Brain on Trial”, the author provides the reader with thoughts of whether people with brain tumors (and other serious neurological disorders) should be held accountable for their actions as other criminals would be. One example given is, “Alex”, whose sexual preference began to transform and developed a strong interest in child pornography, the author informs is that Alex stated this was “`something he had never previously done`” (qtd in Eagleman 432) and had wanted to stop, except his pleasure drive was in overload. Web sites, magazines, and subtle passes to his step-daughter were all a part of the downhill spiral Alex seemed to being going down, after being found out by his wife, he was charged with child …show more content…

someone who premeditated killings out of anger, or pure hatred towards others. A person can develop neurological problems at anytime, but not only can this shape a person, environment, nature vs. nurture, and biology play a huge role in determining the kind of person one can become. What seems to be the question of the hour is when Eagleman states, “When a criminal stands in front of the judge’s bench…was it his fault, or his biology’s fault?” (Eagleman 434) as for the author, it seems he does not lean towards the criminals being “guilty free” of the crimes committed. He does play around with other ideas such as, nature vs. nurture and the biology role, and so forth. I feel certain that the author does not want to simply let the criminals off the hook. The author states, “If I seem to be heading in an uncomfortable direction toward letting criminals off the hook…piece by piece” (Eagleman 434). This statement clearly shows the author trying to convey other options without a personal opinion, but wanting the readers to keep an open mind while reading the

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