-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Kate Sandford, Paddy McQueen, Regret, Medical Law Review, Volume 33, Issue 2, Spring 2025, fwaf013, https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwaf013
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
Though regret theory and research have been discussed in psychology, neuroscience, and economics,1 they have been neglected in socio-legal and philosophical disciplines. The role of regret in law, specifically in medico-legal decision-making, has often been omitted from investigation, resulting in a gap in academic research. Generally, regret is understood as a negative feeling of self-reproach. Still, there is more to the emotion and how it impacts one’s decision-making than may be commonly assumed. Paddy McQueen’s monograph, Regret, is thus a much-needed, in-depth analysis of an often-misunderstood emotion. It sheds light on how regret impacts decision-making and provides a framework for future reference for how regret should be understood and applied.
The first part of the book provides an understanding of regret as an emotion through a three-dimensional lens, by discussing regret in more depth than what may be frequently understood and applied in academic research. This part is valuable for readers from ethico-legal, sociological, or medical law disciplines, as in these early chapters McQueen lays down the critical foundations of what regret is, unpacking previous misconceptions and inadequate understandings of the emotion in the field of philosophy. The latter section of the book, titled ‘The Politics of Regret’, illuminates the relationship between emotions and social hierarchies (p.158). This part draws attention to regret’s role in various areas of medical decision-making such as abortion, sterilization, and Gender-Confirmation Treatment (GCT). McQueen acknowledges that these sections can be read separately depending on the reader’s disciplinary background or intention in reading. Readers from a background in philosophy or ethics may find particular value in the former section, whilst those from sociological and legal disciplines may see this in the latter. This said, read together, I find the book to be a well-rounded interdisciplinary contribution to regret theory with broad applicability to medical decision-making.
