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Emote Control: The Substitution Of Symbol For Substance In Foreign Policy And International Law, Jules Lobel, George Loewenstein

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Historical perspectives, as well as recent work in psychology, converge on the conclusion that human behavior is the product of two or more qualitatively different neural processes that operate according to different principles and often clash with one another. We describe a specific "dual process" perspective that distinguishes between "deliberative" and "emote" control of behavior. We use this framework to shed light on a wide range of legal issues involving foreign policy, terrorism, and international law that are difficult to make sense of in terms of the traditional rational choice perspective. We argue that in these areas, the powerful influence …