Talkin' about a Revolution - Some Thoughts on Social Science, New Evolutionary Studies, and the Law

29 Pages Posted: 23 Dec 2010 Last revised: 4 Feb 2011

See all articles by Luca Arnaudo

Luca Arnaudo

Syracuse University College of Law; Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM)

Date Written: December 23, 2010

Abstract

After a brief survey of the falling fortunes of the so-called Standard Social Science Model, the essay states the need for new models to be used in understanding and supervising human interactions through social institutions. It focuses, therefore, on the possible contributions of new disciplines, such as evolutionary biology and psychology, to the law. Also, by taking into account what has already happened within contemporary economic thought, where behavioral and experimental lines of research are firmly established, it is argued that legal studies have to turn to an evolutionary attitude, as well as open themselves to the use of experimental protocols for the development of more robust behavioral models.

Examples of possible applications of behavioral knowledge to the law are provided by criminal law (e.g. with regards to behavioral genetics evidence, with reference to two US murder cases and a recent, highly debated Italian sentence), as well as by a survey of equity principles embedded within private law. The final goal is the establishment of a sound cognitive approach to the law.

Keywords: SSSM, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, law and economics, equity, experimental method, cognitive law

JEL Classification: B52, K10

Suggested Citation

Arnaudo, Luca, Talkin' about a Revolution - Some Thoughts on Social Science, New Evolutionary Studies, and the Law (December 23, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1729996 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1729996

Luca Arnaudo (Contact Author)

Syracuse University College of Law ( email )

950 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States

Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) ( email )

Piazza G. Verdi, 6/A
Rome, 00198
Italy

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