Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Bloche

J.D. Course 496 (cross-listed) | 3 credit hours

Developments in neuroscience and the psychological study of cognition and emotion are transforming our understanding of the mind. These developments have large implications for law and lawyering. They challenge some of civil and criminal law's central premises - about people's rationality, free choice, and consistency over time. This course will examine some of these challenges, and it will weigh the law’s possible responses. Legal topics to be explored will include health and safety regulation, the idea of the reasonable person, intent and culpability, mental disability, and the roles of revenge, regret, and other motives in civil and criminal justice. Other themes, relevant to lawyering and to the management of conflict, will include the psychology of negotiation, the nature of intuition and judgment, and the roles of trust and social norms. The course will also consider the causes and control of violence and extremism, as well as the use of emerging neuroscience technologies for legal and national security purposes.