The trans-disciplinary study of law and the humanities is becoming a more widespread focus among scholars from a range of disciplines. Complementary in several major ways, concepts and theories of law can be used to formulate fresh ideas about the humanities, and vice versa. Law, Mystery, and the Humanities, a collection of essays by leading scholars, is based on the hypothesis that law has significant contributions to make to ongoing discussions of philosophical issues recurrent in the humanities.

The philosophical issues in question include the role of rationality in human experience, the problem of dissent, the persistence of suffering, and the possibility of transcendence. In each of these areas, law is used to add complexity and offer divergent perspectives, thus moving important questions in the humanities forward by introducing the possibility of alternative analysis. Ranging from discussions of detective fiction, Chomsky's universal grammar, the poetry of Margaret Atwood, the Great Plague of London, and more, Law, Mystery, and the Humanities offers a unique examination of trans-disciplinary potential.

Logan Atkinson is an associate professor in the Department of Law at Carleton University.

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Diana Majury is an Associate Professor in the Law Department at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her research and teaching interests include the Charter and equality theory, human rights, criminal law, women’s health, and law and literature. She has been active in various capacities with both NAWL and LEAF since their inceptions/conceptions.

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