Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: No Exam
Students will be asked to write short papers (1-2 pages) on each week’s readings. There will be no required final examination or term paper.

Love, jealousy, guilt, anger, fear, greed, compassion, hope, and joy play important roles in the lives of lawyers and those with whom they interact. The most effective lawyers are not just good thinkers, they are also empathic students of human emotions. This seminar will offer students a chance to explore what is missing from the traditional law school rational actor model of human nature through discussion of readings, primarily from psychology (but with contributions from economics, biology, philosophy, and literature), about the nature and operation of the emotions, the use of emotion in persuasion and negotiation, emotions and the good life, and the role of emotions in moral and legal decision making.