The Varieties of Dementia, and the Question of Dementia in Relation to Responsibility

Extract

The questions I particularly desire to raise in order to ascertain the opinion of my fellow-members are three: (¹) the actual meaning of the technical term “dementia” and the variety or varieties seen or met with as primary conditions; (2) the amount of “mental weakness” which this term connotes, i.e., that exists compatible with responsibility or liability to punishment; and (3) the question whether there can exist such a condition as partial against complete insanity, and, therefore, also partial as contrasted with complete responsibility.