It is my view that one essential difference between persons and other creatures is to be found in the structure of a person's will. Besides wanting and choosing and being moved to do this or that, men may also want to have certain desires and motives. They are capable of wanting to be different, in their preferences and purposes, from what they are. Many animals appear to have the capacity for what I shall call "first-order desires" or "desires of the (...) first order," which are simply desires to do or not to do one thing or another. No animal other than man, however, appears to have the capacity for reflective self-evaluation that is manifested in the formation of second-order desires. (shrink)

Dans le but de d�fendre la th�se de la correspondance entre le comportement moral et le bonheur, j�analyse dans cet article le cas probl�matique des psychopathes. Les psychopathes sont des individus qui ne reculent devant aucun interdit moral pour satisfaire leurs d�sirs, et qui ne ressentent aucun remord ou scrupule face � leurs agissements. En ce sens, ils paraissent obtenir un ��ticket gratuit�� dans le domaine de la moralit�. Comment un d�fenseur de la th�se de la correspondance entre moralit� et (...) bonheur peut-il rendre compte du cas du psychopathe? Le psychopathe vient-il r�futer cette th�se, ou repr�sente-t-il plut�t une exception l�gitime? Je d�fendrai ici une solution alternative �; apr�s avoir propos� une version plausible de la th�se de la correspondance, je tenterai de d�montrer que les psychopathes ne sont pas heureux, et ce en vertu de caract�ristiques essentielles de la psychopathie. Leur statut de ��criminel en puissance�� et leur faible capacit� de contentement sont les deux �l�ments centraux qui m�am�neront � conclure que les psychopathes ne sont pas heureux. Loin de r�futer ou d��chapper � la th�se de la correspondance, le cas des psychopathes vient donc en r�alit� renforcer cette th�se. -/- My goal in this paper is to defend the idea of a general correspondence between happiness and morality, and I do so by analyzing the problematic case of psychopaths. Psychopaths are individuals who are not bothered by moral restrictions when it comes to satisfying their desires. They feel no remorse and have no scruples, and as such they appear to be �free-riders� in the realm of morality. The unusual case of psychopaths will therefore pose a problem to someone who argues that there is a correspondence between happiness and morality: should psychopaths be seen as refuting the correspondence rule, or are they merely a legitimate exception to that rule? I will propose an alternative explanation; after having presented a plausible version of the correspondence thesis, I will try to show that psychopaths, for reasons constitutive of their nature, really are not happy. Psychopaths� quasi-inevitable criminal behaviours as well as their low capacity for contentment are two central elements that lead me to argue that they are not happy. I therefore conclude that psychopaths, far from refuting the correspondence thesis, actually reinforce that thesis. (shrink)