Tra legge e sentenza. Sul ruolo delle emozioni nella decisione giudiziale

During the last two decades, the number of studies and researches on the role of emotion in judicial decision making has been steadily increasing. Using the discoveries of the cognitive sciences about the function of emotion in performing good reasoning and deliberative processes, scholars from different fields have raised a challenging issue. It is about whether it should not only be accepted but even required that emotions should play a role in the judge’s decisions. In addition, the kind of emotions and how they could be managed has been tackled. After focusing on the conceptual premises of this debate, the essay aims to analyze Terry Maroney’s claim about the role of anger as well as shed light on the underlying assumptions about law and judicial decision and to outline an alternative model pivoted on the litigation.