Re: If it was possible to rehabilitate criminals with one pill.......................
The problem is that it would impact on behaviour prior to potential criminal act. It becomes more attractive to commit crime and utilise the pill afterwards. That summary assumes rationality. If we also have a pill describing temporary insanity (and therefore the worthlessness of free will), we have the whole libertarian approach under a cloud.
Crime is not caused by active choice. It's a disease (as evidenced by the pill-cure) the pill could not work under the conditions you describe... EVER. (granted, the pill only exists in a hypothetical la-la land, but if we want to play in that la la land, we CANNOT keep changing it's natural order to suit our agendas.
The Hypothetical "Fact" that the pill is actually effective, means it HAS to act upon something in order for it to actually be effective. this means that in the hypothetical reality (NOT OUR REALITY) The pill can only work one of two ways.
In the "curing a disorder" method, the pill CURES A DISORDER THAT CAUSES CRIMINALITY.
If ALL criminality is CAUSED by a disorder, knowledge of the pills existence has no bearing whatsoever on willingness to commit a crime since the DISEASE is the causal factor, not free-will.
If the pill removes free-will, it is a possible deterrent and a study in that hypothetical reality MUST be necessary in order to determine whether continued incarceration were required or not. If the potential loss of free-will to self-determine whether or not you will commit a crime (you lose the option of committing the crime, and thus your ability to decide) is a greater deterrent that the potential loss of physical freedom, continued incarceration may not be necessary.
It may still be necessary in this instance through if studies determine both to be effective (in this crazy world of magic pills)
Nope! Given there is no instantaneous pill provision, the rational criminal will know that there are net expected gains to be had.
In the reality, Criminals are NEVER rational. Are you missing the fact that a pill can effective rehabilitate? Rationality was tossed out the window in this reality from the start.
The potential criminal compares the expected gain from legitimate activity and criminal activity. The pill does nothing to increase the former or reduce the latter (it only introduces the chances of inconsistent preferences). It therefore has no deterrence value
Actually, there is your are logical flaw.
For the pill to actually work, for the hypothetical reality to even "exist", criminals
cannot be weighing options when deciding to commit crimes. Otherwise, the pill is totally ineffective.
It HAS to act on something in order to ELIMINATE criminality ENTIRELY. that means that Criminality has some root biological cause (not-rationally based)
That means in the hypothetical reality, criminals are NOT rational actors. that is why the pill is effective in this reality.
Unless you can come up with
another way that the pill can possibly be effective, the argument of rationalizing criminality is pointless in this context.
teh two ways I've figured it could work are
A. curing a criminality disorder (removes the desire to commit crime)
B. Removing free will (removes the ABILITY to commit crime.)
In A, there is no rational behavior involved in criminality. In B, the DESIRE to commit crime would still exist, but become impossible to fulfill.