Law and the Passions

Engaging with the underlying social context in which emotions are a motivationalforce, Law and the Passions provides a uniquely inclusive commentary on the significanceand influence of emotions in the history and continuing development oflegal judgment, policy formation, legal practice and legal dogma.Although the emotionality of the law and the use of emotional tropes in legaldiscourse has become an established focus in recent scholarship, the extent towhich emotion and the passions have informed decision-making, decision-avoidanceand legal reasoning – rather than as simply an adjunct – is still a matter forcritical analysis. As evidenced in a range of illustrative legal cases, emotions havebeen instrumental in the evolution of key legal principles and have produced manycontroversial judgments. Addressing the latent influence of fear, hate, love andcompassion, the book explores the mutability of law and its transformative power,especially when faced with fluctuating social mores. The textual nature of law andthe impact of literary forms on legal actors are also critically examined to furtherelucidate the idea of law-making as both rational and emotional, and significantlyas an essential activity of the empathic imagination. To this end, it is suggestedthat critical scholarship on law, the passions and emotions not only advances ourunderstanding of the inner workings of law, it constitutes a fundamental part ofour moral reasoning, and has the capacity to articulate the conditions for a moredynamic, adaptable, ethical and effective legal institution.This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and students in thefields of law and literature, legal theory, legal philosophy, law and the humanities,legal aesthetics, sociology of law, politics, law and policy, human rights, general jurisprudenceand social justice, as well as cultural studies.