Our legal system grants remarkable powers to psychiatrists. They can testify authoritatively that a defendant is insane and thus not responsible for his actions. They can administer drugs or commit individuals to psychiatric hospitals with or without consent. They don't have unlimited discretion, of course, but they do have a very significant state-granted and state-recognized authority, especially over criminal justice.

We have lately witnessed several high-profile criminal events for which insanity may or may not be a tempting explanation -- the spree killings in Aurora, Colorado and Oak Creek, Wisconsin; Anders Breivik's rampage in Norway; and the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords.

Our lead essayist this month, American University's Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler, is skeptical that "insanity" is a good explanation for criminal -- or any -- behavior. Indeed, Schaler denies that "mental illness" is a valid category of disease. For that reason he is also one of the world's foremost exponents of consensual psychiatry, a branch of the discipline first comprehensively defended by Dr. Thomas Szasz: If a patient wishes to be treated, he should be allowed to seek treatment; if not, his behavior remains his own responsibility. Insanity is neither a defense nor a reason for involuntary commitment.

Schaler's is a minority viewpoint within psychiatry, and it sits at odds with current legal doctrine as well. To discuss with him this month, we have invited Dr. Allen Frances, a Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Duke University; Jacob Sullum, a journalist and author who has often written on mental health, therapy, and the law; and Amanda Pustilnik, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Maryland whose work focuses on the intersection between neuroscience and the law.

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