Law and the Passions

Engaging with the underlying social context in which emotions are a motivational

force, Law and the Passions provides a uniquely inclusive commentary on the significance

and influence of emotions in the history and continuing development of

legal judgment, policy formation, legal practice and legal dogma.

Although the emotionality of the law and the use of emotional tropes in legal

discourse has become an established focus in recent scholarship, the extent to

which emotion and the passions have informed decision-making, decision-avoidance

and legal reasoning ¿ rather than as simply an adjunct ¿ is still a matter for

critical analysis. As evidenced in a range of illustrative legal cases, emotions have

been instrumental in the evolution of key legal principles and have produced many

controversial