Mental Disturbance in the Law of Torts A Problem of Legal Lag
In an era when the frontiers of psychology are steadily retreating before the inexorable advance of science, in an age when the average man is increasingly concerned with the impact of his emotional problems, in a society whose best-selling books include such tides as Peace of Mind and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living -in such a time and in such a culture, the courts have not yet extended a full measure of protection to the interest in mental and emotional tranquillity. It is perhaps the most underprotected interest in the law of torts. If it be true that positive law is the product of the numerous conflicts of interests which characterize every society, then tort law is the product of a specific conflict, that between individual freedom of action on the one hand and individual security on the other. The degree of protection afforded to various interests logically ought to be an index of the value placed upon them by our culture....