A colloquium at the intersection of law, society, and cognition: integrating sociological and philosophical paradigms with the cognitive sciences

This article introduces the works presented at the Colloquium on the intersections of law, society, and cognition, which brought into dialogue socio-legal studies, legal realism, legal philosophy, cognitive science, and neuroscience. The contributions collected in this issue challenge the idea that legal norms, reasoning, and decision-making can be understood as autonomous from the cognitive, emotional, and social conditions in which they emerge and operate. Across topics such as heuristics and biases, intuition, normativity, responsibility, artificial intelligence, and legal education, the special issue shows how cognition shapes both the application of law and the formation of legal judgment. Taken together, these essays argue for an interdisciplinary and socio-cognitive approach to law, capable of integrating empirical research with theoretical reflection in order to better understand legal practice and its institutional implications.