The legal mind : a new introduction to legal epistemology

"The Harvard law professor Thomas Reid Powell, is credited with saying: "if you can think about something that is related to something else without thinking about the thing to which it is related, then you have a legal mind".1 Once our amusement caused by this sarcastic comment fades, we should realize that Powell is referring here to something more than a stereotypical picture of a boring, abstraction-loving lawyer. It may well transpire that it is not a stereotype, but rather a standard which we are laughing at, while fully embracing it at the same time"-- Read more... How does a lawyer think? Does legal intuition exist? Do lawyers need imagination? Why is legal language so abstract? It is no longer possible to answer these questions by applying philosophical analysis alone. Recent advances in the cognitive sciences have reshaped our conceptions of the human mental faculties and the tools we use to solve problems. A new picture of the functioning of the legal mind is emerging. In The Legal Mind, Bartosz Brożek uses philosophical arguments and insight from the cognitive sciences to depict legal thinking as a close cooperation between three cognitive mechanisms - intuition, imagination, and language - and addresses the question of how to efficiently use these mental tools. This novel and provocative approach provides a fresh perspective on legal thinking and gives rise to important questions pertaining to the limits of legal interpretation and rationality in the law. "How does a lawyer think? Does legal intuition exist? Do lawyers need imagination? Why is legal language so abstract? It is not longer possible to answer these questions by applying philosophical analysis alone. Recent advances in the cognitive sciences have reshaped our conceptions of human mental faculties and the tools we use to solve problems. A new picture of the functioning of the legal mind is emerging. In the legal mind, Bartosz Brozek uses philosophical arguments and insight from cognitive sciences to depict legal thinking as a close cooperation between three cognitive mechanisms - intuition, imagination, and language - and addresses the question of how to efficiently use these mental tools. This novel and provocative approach provides a fresh perspective on legal thinking and gives rise to important questions pertaining to the limits of legal interpretation and rationality in the law." "The Harvard law professor Thomas Reid Powell, is credited with saying: "if you can think about something that is related to something else without thinking about the thing to which it is related, then you have a legal mind".1 Once our amusement caused by this sarcastic comment fades, we should realize that Powell is referring here to something more than a stereotypical picture of a boring, abstraction-loving lawyer. It may well transpire that it is not a stereotype, but rather a standard which we are laughing at, while fully embracing it at the same time"-- Informació facilitada per l'editor "The Harvard law professor Thomas Reid Powell, is credited with saying: "if you can think about something that is related to something else without thinking about the thing to which it is related, then you have a legal mind".1 Once our amusement caused by this sarcastic comment fades, we should realize that Powell is referring here to something more than a stereotypical picture of a boring, abstraction-loving lawyer. It may well transpire that it is not a stereotype, but rather a standard which we are laughing at, while fully embracing it at the same time"-- Provided by publisher Drawing from philosophy and the cognitive sciences, this book depicts a new picture of legal thinking as an interplay between intuition, imagination, and language. This fresh approach prompts key questions of rationality in law, how lawyers think, and the limits of legal interpretation that will interest scholars, students, and practitioners. How Do Lawyers Think? Brożek Presents A New Perspective On Legal Thinking As An Interplay Between Intuition, Imagination And Language.