The Reasonable Person
A Legal Biography
Published on 6. June 2024
Book
Hardback
216 pages
978-1-009-44562-7 (ISBN)
Description
Jeutner argues that the reasonable person is, at heart, an empathetic perspective-taking device, by tracing the standard of the reasonable person across time, legal fields and countries. Beginning with a review of imaginary legal figures in the legal systems of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the book explains why the common law's reasonable person emerged amidst the British industrialisation under the influence of Scottish Enlightenment thinking. Following the figure into colonial courts, onto battlefields and into self-driving cars, the book contends that the reasonable person invites judges, jury-members, and lawyers to take another person's perspective when assessing their own or another person's conduct. The perspective of another is taken by means of empathy, by feeling what others might feel in a particular situation. Thus construed, the figure of the reasonable person can help us make more accurate judgments in a diverse world.
Reviews / Votes
'A fascinating read' Dominic Regan, New Law Journal 'This book is an amazing work of scholarship, very readable and above all very positive about the way the law aims to be do justice, be fair, and adapt to society.' David Pickup, The Law Society Gazette 'This legal biography of a concept is not intended to settle matters, but it is bound to be of interest to many scholars and practitioners in fostering, at the very least, thought and discussion of a complex phenomenon.' Robert Shiels, Scottish Legal News 'The book is not just a legal-historical or doctrinal study, but a work that is admirably interdisciplinary. It raises a number of jurisprudential questions. As a legal philosopher myself, I will zero in here on one of them, namely what is the purpose of law and how does this purpose determine its limits? Legal concepts such as the reasonable person standard do not exist in a vacuum but reflect their drafters' philosophical dispositions with regard to how this question should be answered. This makes Jeutner's work especially valuable as an account of how and why the reasonable person evolved into its current form.' Anna Lukina, Modern Law Review 'The portrait Jeutner has drawn, and the vision of law that Jeutner brings to the conversation is humane and most welcome. With an interdisciplinary reach and writing that is unfailingly measured, Jeutner has given us a socio-legal study worth embracing.' Law and Society ReviewMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 245 mm
Width: 174 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
546 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-44562-7 (9781009445627)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2025
Cambridge University Press
€37.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
05/2024
Cambridge University Press
€117.99
Available for download
E-Book
05/2024
Cambridge University Press
€117.99
Available for download
Person
Valentin Jeutner is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Lund University and Senior Retained Lecturer, Pembroke College, Oxford. Jeutner encountered the reasonable person when studying law in England (Oxford/Cambridge) and the US (Georgetown). He is also admitted to the bar of New York State. Previous publications include Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law (2017) and [l]ex machina (2020).
Content
Introduction; The Reasonable Person in the Past; The Reasonable Person in Birmingham; The Reasonable Person in Clapham; The Reasonable Person in the Colonies; The Reasonable Person in the Battlefield; The Reasonable Person in the Future; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.