Law and Human Behavior: A Study in Behavioral Biology, Neuroscience, and the Law

Behavioral biology and neuroscience are the next frontiers for legal thought. In the next few years, behavioral biology and neuroscience will become as important for the analysis of law as economics has been for the last several decades. In this book, Professor Fruehwald presents the general principles of behavioral biology and neuroscience, then applies these principles to topics in the law. He believes that there was a nascent legal system on the savannah, where innate behavioral rules were enforced by devices such as force, reputation, and ostracism. Among the topics he explores are the use of behavioral biology and neuroscience to critique Postmodern Legal Thought, reciprocal altruism as the basis for contract, a biological basis of rights, and how behavioral biology can be used to analyze constitutional cases. He concludes by showing why it is important to base law on a correct view of human nature. Professor Fruehwald has taught at the law schools of the University of Alabama, Roger Williams University, and Hofstra University. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Louisville School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He also has an S.J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York. He has published articles on law and behavioral biology, conflicts of law, federalism, and copyright. His book, Choice of Law for American Courts: A Multilateralist Method, received Hofstra University's Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarship in 2002.