Base your response to these questions on our exploration of the Leopold and Loeb case and the theories studied (determinism, libertarianism and compatibilism.
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In 1924 Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two child prodigies from wealthy Chicago families undertook to commit the perfect crime. Nathan Leopold was an ornithologist, budding lawyer and aficionado of Frederick Nietzsche, whose concept of the “Superman” led him to believe he and his friend, Richard Loeb, were not required to abide by the prevailing moral codes. Richard Loeb was fascinated by crime. The two kidnapped and murdered a young, wealthy neighbor, Bobby Franks. They confessed to the crime. Clarence Darrow, an avid opponent of the death penalty, was hired to defend the teenagers. The teenagers faced the death penalty, which was death by hanging. Darrow pled the defendants guilty. To save their lives, he used the determinist defense at the sentencing hearing, saying, in part:
Is Dickey Loeb to blame because out of the infinite forces that conspired to form him, the infinite forces that were at work producing him ages before he was born, that because out of these infinite combinations he was born without it [emotion]? If he is, then there should be a new definition for justice. Is he to blame for what he did not have and never had? Is he to blame that his machine is imperfect? Who is to blame? I do not know. I have never in my life been interested so much in fixing blame as I have in relieving people from blame. I am not wise enough to fix it. I know that somewhere in the past that entered into him something missed. It may be defective nerves. It may be a defective heart or liver. It may be defective endocrine glands. I know it is something. I know that nothing happens in this world without a cause.
1. How does Darrow’s determinist position conflict with the concept of free will? (25 points)
2. Thomas Hobbes posed the notion of compatibilism. According to Hobbes, an action is free if it meets two conditions:
the action must be caused by the will
it must not be externally constrained
Does Nathan Leopold’s participation in the kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks meet Hobbes’ criteria of a free act? Why or why not?
(25 points)
4. Was Leopold’s will under his direct control during the commission of the crime? Was he brainwashed? If so, are his actions free? Why or why not? (25 points)
5. If you were the judge in the Leopold case, how would you have adjudicated this crime? Explain the theory underlying your decision: Determinism, Soft Determinism or Indeterminism. (25 points)
