Giuseppe Rocchè & Michele Ubertone, Can Disgust Predict Legal Decisions

Giuseppe Rocchè & Michele Ubertone, Can Disgust Predict Legal Decisions?

In this lecture, Giuseppe Rocchè and Michele Ubertone examine the question of whether a subject’s disgust for a course of conduct or a person unconsciously influences the way the subject applies the law to that conduct or person. The first part discusses the theoretical background of their research, namely Johanathan Haidt’s studies on moral reasoning, while the second part presents an experimental protocol that adapts the methodology adopted by Haidt for the study of moral judgements to the study of legal judgements.

1

Can Disgust Predict Legal Decisions (1)

1 / 3

Which of the following statements is true?

According to Haidt, if a group of people want to morally condemn a harmless conduct, then they always will invent victims and harms to back their condemnation

According to Haidt, people are often unaware of the processes that led to their moral judgments

According to Haidt, the habitual function of reasoning is that of revising our intuitive judgments

2 / 3

Which of the following statements is true?

According to the rationalist model intuition is the conclusion of reasoning

According to the intuitionist model intuition is the conclusion of reasoning

According to the intuitionist model reasoning is a form of ex post rationalization

3 / 3

Which of the following statements is false?

For harm-based morality taboo violations are always immoral

People with a low socioeconomic status adopt a morality which is less harm-based than people with a high socioeconomic status

According to Haidt morality is not always harm-based

Your score is

1

Can Disgust Predict Legal Decisions (2)

1 / 3

If it turns out that legal decisions are NOT influenced by what Haidt describes, why should legal theory care?

This would suggest that legal reasoning is a type of moral reasoning.

This would suggest that legal reasoning is not a type of moral reasoning.

This would suggest that moral reasoning is irrelevant to writing good laws.

2 / 3

If it turns out that legal decisions are systematically influenced by what Haidt describes, why should legal theory care?

This would show that it is impossible to violate the principle of legality.

This would make the principle of legality appear particularly difficult to realise in practice.

This would show that the principle of legality is morally harmful.

3 / 3

According to some legal theorists legal reasoning is based on a special kind of reasons for action. What kind?

Excluded reasons, reasons that are made irrelevant by other reasons.

Morally irrelevant reasons

Exclusionary reasons, reasons that exclude the relevance of other first-order reasons.

Your score is

Giuseppe Rocchè & Michele Ubertone, Can Disgust Predict Legal Decisions?

Lecture Part 1

Part 2

Quiz 1

Quiz 2