Forgive me for the following relatively lengthy rant.
I have been doing copious research into Sociopathy for quite some time now, and have come to know a few self-proclaimed, as well as secretive Sociopaths.
Through all of this, I can't help but think that the whole phenomenon behind Sociopathy has been exaggerated and over sensationalized. The reason I say this is because, of all of the traits that a typical Sociopath is said to have, most of them are prevalent in every person I have met. These traits simply reveal themselves in different quantities and qualities.
Human beings have become ever suppressive in today's society, since their happiness with mediocrity is largely based on the dismissal of doubt, because if one doubts, one has to accept certain truths and other falsities, and your facade could crumble.
But if you were to strip away that fervent suppression, one would find the "Id" (-Freud), where all unfiltered desires occur. One could argue that a Sociopath has a firm grasp of his Id, but does not reject it. In saying that, is it not safe to say that everybody has the capacity to be Sociopathic, much as they say everyone has the capacity for murder, circumstance permitting.
Suffice to say I think that we are all equally evil/good, but we differ in what we suppress, and what we cover up our desires with.
This can either be seen as naivety, or as an acceptance of different levels of introspection and self-acceptance (morals and subjectivity aside).
Either way, my point is that I don't believe that Sociopathy should be seen as a mental illness, and I certainly don't think it should have such weighty negative connotations connected to it.