Drawing from all these disciplines, as well as from psychology,
anthropology and linguistics, Winter has constructed nothing less
than a tour de force of interdisciplinary analysis. "A
Cleaving in the Forest" rests on the simple notion that the
better we understand the intricate workings of the mind, the better
we will understand all of its products - especially law.
Categorization plays a key role in this understanding, for it is
categories that define our expectations and, in so doing, shape
what we find believable, what we judge accurate, what we experience
as cogent, compelling and persuasive. But what does law do when our
categories run out? Is pornographic speech protected by the First
Amendment, or should it not be protected because it more closely
resembles libel? Should abortion be protected because it falls into
the category of rights reserved to the mother, or is it more like
the category of harms done to others? Through law, the revolution
in cognitive science finds almost limitless applications. In this
compelling meditation not only on how the law works, but what it
ultimately means, Winter charts a unique course to understanding
the world we inhabit, showing us the w
Steven L. Winter is the Walter S. Gibbs Professor of Constitutional Law and director of the Center for Legal Studies at Wayne State University Law School.
