{"product_id":"wild-beasts-and-idle-humours-the-insanity-defense-from-antiquity-to-the-present","title":"Wild Beasts and Idle Humours: The Insanity Defense from Antiquity to the Present","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow does the law regard and define mental incompetence  when faced with the problem of meting out justice? To what extent has the law relied on extra-legal authoritiesbe they religious or scientificto frame its own categories of mental incompetence and madness? Wild Beasts and Idle Humours takes us on an illuminating journey through the changing historical landscape of human nature and offers an unprecedented look at the legal conceptions of insanity from the pre-classical Greek world to the present. Although actual trial records are either totally lacking or incomplete until the eighteenth century  there are other sources from which the insanity defenses can be constructed.  In this book Daniel N. Robinson  a distinguished historian of psychology  pores over centuries of written law  statements by legal commentators  summaries of crimes  and punishments  to glean from these sources an understanding of epochal views of responsibility and competence. From the Greek phrenesis to the Roman notions of furiosus and non compos mentis  from the seventeenth-century witch trials to todays interpretation of mens rea  Robinson takes us through history and provides the intricate story of how the insanity defense has been construed as a meeting point of the law and those professions that chart human behavior and conduct: namely religion  medicine  and psychology. The result is a rare historical account of insanity within Western civilization.  Wild Beasts and Idle Humours will be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of thinking not merely about legal insanity but about such core concepts as responsibility  fitness for the rule of law  competence to enter into contracts and covenants  the role of punishments  and the place of experts within the overall juridical context.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946877513781,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674952901","price":32.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674952904.jpg?v=1769970228","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/wild-beasts-and-idle-humours-the-insanity-defense-from-antiquity-to-the-present","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}