No, I would still say that love is what makes us human.
Sociopaths are not completely bereft of love. Like all human traits, sociopathy is on a scale.
The kind of human that is bereft completely of love would fit into the category of monster than human.
On the other hand, when did this tendency to define out humanity as sickeness come into vogue?
I can imagine a world in which humanity is defined by sociopathy. Even if it did make it pass the stage where every baby is not aborted by its mother, even hell would come off as a dream vacation in comparison.
If you want to define person-hood as sociopathy, be my guest. I wouldn't want to live in a world like that though.
There's a condition that, studies show as many as 10% of people have. The condition called alexithymia, and people with it have little empathy, not because they don't care, but because their brains are incapable of distinguishing emotions from body sensations. A definition follows:
Alexithymia - Wikipedia
Alexithymia /ˌeɪlɛksəˈθaɪmiə/ is a personality construct characterized by the
subclinical inability to identify and describe emotions in the self.
[1] The core characteristics of alexithymia are marked dysfunction in emotional awareness, social attachment, and interpersonal relating.
[2] Furthermore, alexithymics have difficulty in distinguishing and appreciating the emotions of others, which is thought to lead to
unempathic and ineffective emotional responding.
[2]Alexithymia is prevalent in approximately 10% of the general population and is known to be comorbid with a number of psychiatric conditions.
[3]
I've known people with the condition and believe my eldest son has it. For an example of a person with the condition, there's a TV series called, "The Bridge" and one called, "The Tunnel" where the female protagonist, who is a police detective has the condition. More information:
A common misconception about alexithymia is that affected individuals are totally unable to express emotions verbally and that they may even fail to acknowledge that they experience emotions. Even before coining the term, Sifneos (1967) noted patients often mentioned things like anxiety or depression. The distinguishing factor was their inability to elaborate beyond a few limited adjectives such as "happy" or "unhappy" when describing these feelings.
[24] The core issue is that alexithymics have poorly differentiated emotions limiting their ability to distinguish and describe them to others.
[4]This contributes to the sense of emotional detachment from themselves and difficulty connecting with others, making alexithymia negatively associated with life satisfaction even when depression and other confounding factors are controlled for.
[25]
While those with the condition have some idea what anxiety and happiness feels like, they have little or even no ability to feel empathy for others, since they have great difficulty making such emotional connections. Some are even incapable of empathy.
So yes, I agree it's a matter of degrees, the question remains:
Are those with severe cases of alexithymia, who are completely incapable of feeling empathy not human?
