Davis publishes book on Hindu law with Cambridge University Press

March 17th 2010
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Professor Donald Davis has a new book out The Spirit of Hindu Law
Professor Donald Davis has a new book out The Spirit of Hindu Law

Professor Donald Davis (Languages & Cultures of Asia) recently published a book The Spirit of Hindu Law with Cambridge University Press.

From the publisher's website:

Law is too often perceived solely as state-based rules and institutions that provide a rational alternative to religious rites and ancestral customs. The Spirit of Hindu Law uses the Hindu legal tradition as a heuristic tool to question this view and reveal the close linkage between law and religion.

Emphasizing the household, the family, and everyday relationships as additional social locations of law, it contends that law itself can be understood as a theology of ordinary life.

An introduction to traditional Hindu law and jurisprudence, this book is structured around key legal concepts such as the sources of law and authority, the laws of persons and things, procedure, punishment and legal practice. It combines investigation of key themes from Sanskrit legal texts with discussion of Hindu theology and ethics, as well as thorough examination of broader comparative issues in law and religion.

Davis specializes in law and religion in medieval India, the history of religions in South Asia, Malayalam language and literature and Dharmasastra literature.