Résumés
Résumé
Le trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) désigne un ensemble de troubles neurodéveloppementaux caractérisé par des difficultés de communication et d’interactions sociales, ainsi que des comportements, intérêts et activités restreints et répétitifs (1). Concernant les interactions sociales, les personnes autistes auraient notamment des difficultés d’empathie, souvent considérées comme altérant leurs capacités morales. Ainsi, plusieurs études en psychologie et en neuroscience tentent de détecter des processus empathiques défaillants à l’origine d’altérations de leur compréhension de la moralité (2-4). Les problèmes sociaux des personnes autistes se manifestent aussi par des difficultés dans leur vie affective qui concernent leurs propres états émotionnels (5-9). Je suggère que les particularités morales des personnes autistes sont issues de leurs particularités d’accès émotionnel, soit la façon dont elles se rapportent à leurs propres émotions, et non pas de déficits d’empathie. Je montrerai que ces particularités ne les empêchent en aucun cas de faire partie de la communauté morale. Les personnes autistes peuvent être de rigoureux agents moraux, c’est-à-dire qu’elles présentent une certaine intransigeance et inflexibilité morale. Ces particularités seront expliquées. À la lumière des théories sur les processus duaux, je montrerai comment leurs particularités socio-émotionnelles et morales sont toutes deux sous-tendues par une surutilisation de processus de type 2, soit une surutilisation de raisonnements cognitifs délibérés et basés sur des règles, plutôt que des processus automatiques, de type 1. L’objectif principal de cette étude sera donc de mettre en évidence les particularités qui permettent aux personnes autistes d’être des agents moraux certes inflexibles, mais néanmoins émotionnellement investis dans les situations à caractère moral.
Mots-clés :
- TSA,
- autisme,
- moralité,
- accès émotionnel,
- émotions,
- empathie
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a set of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication and social interactions, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests and activities (1). Social interaction deficits notably include difficulties in empathic processes, often considered as affecting moral abilities in people suffering from ASD. Several studies in psychology and neuroscience have attempted to detect disturbed empathic processes that cause alterations in their understanding of morality (2-4). Social problems in autistic people are manifested by difficulties in their affective lives concerning their own emotional states (5-9). In this paper, I suggest that moral particularities of people with autism are a consequence of their particularities in emotional access, namely the way they relate to their own emotions, and not a consequence of empathic deficits. I will show that these particularities do not prevent them from belonging to the moral community. People with autism can indeed be rigorous moral agents, that is to say, they display a tendency to moral intransigence and inflexibility. These characteristics will be explained. In light of dual process theories, I will show how socio-emotional and moral particularities are underpinned by an overuse of type 2 processes, namely an overuse of deliberate and rule-based cognitive reasoning, instead of type 1 automatic processes. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the particularities that allow people with autism to be moral agents who, although inflexible, are nonetheless emotionally committed in moral situations.
Keywords:
- ASD,
- autism,
- morality,
- emotional access,
- emotions,
- empathy
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