The importance of literature for legal professionals (without exaggeration)

• Main Author: Shecaira, Fábio Perin
• Publication Date: 2018
• Format: Article
• Language: por; eng
• Source: Anamorphosis (Porto Alegre)
• Download full: https://periodicos.rdl.org.br/anamps/article/view/423
• topic: law in literature; legal lessons; moral lessons.; direito na literatura; lições jurídicas; lições morais.

This paper aims at discussing the moral value of literature for jurists. The common view (espoused by authors such as Robin West, Martha Nussbaum, and Lynn Hunt) that literature is capable of “humanizing” the reader – making one more sympathetic and benevolent – has not been clearly corroborated by empirical studies on the subject. In addition, this is a politically risky idea, which interests both the friends and the foes of literature. On the other hand, it is possible to argue that literature is able to refine our understanding of moral and social problems. Perhaps literature does not make readers better people, but it can still make readers more aware of the complexity of moral issues that tend to be underestimated.