Law and the Passions

<p>Engaging with the underlying social context in which emotions are a motivational</p><p></p><p>force <em>Law and the Passions</em> provides a uniquely inclusive commentary on the significance</p><p></p><p>and influence of emotions in the history and continuing development of</p><p></p><p>legal judgment policy formation legal practice and legal dogma.</p><p></p><p>Although the emotionality of the law and the use of emotional tropes in legal</p><p></p><p>discourse has become an established focus in recent scholarship the extent to</p><p></p><p>which emotion and the passions have informed decision-making decision-avoidance</p><p></p><p>and legal reasoning – rather than as simply an adjunct – is still a matter for</p><p></p><p>critical analysis. As evidenced in a range of illustrative legal cases emotions have</p><p></p><p>been instrumental in the evolution of key legal principles and have produced many</p><p></p><p>controversial judgments. Addressing the latent influence of fear hate love and</p><p></p><p>compassion the book explores the mutability of law and its transformative power</p><p></p><p>especially when faced with fluctuating social mores. The textual nature of law and</p><p></p><p>the impact of literary forms on legal actors are also critically examined to further</p><p></p><p>elucidate the idea of law-making as both rational and emotional and significantly</p><p></p><p>as an essential activity of the empathic imagination. To this end it is suggested</p><p></p><p>that critical scholarship on law the passions and emotions not only advances our</p><p></p><p>understanding of the inner workings of law it constitutes a fundamental part of</p><p></p><p>our moral reasoning and has the capacity to articulate the conditions for a more</p><p></p><p>dynamic adaptable ethical and effective legal institution.</p><p></p><p>This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and students in the</p><p></p><p>fields of law and literature legal theory legal philosophy law and the humanities</p><p></p><p>legal aesthetics sociology of law politics law and policy human rights general jurisprudence</p><p></p><p>and social justice as well as cultural studies.</p>