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Ordeals: an economic vindication of ancient Indian “nonsense”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

Harald Wiese
Harald Wiese*
Affiliation:
University of Leipzig
*
wiese@wifa.uni-leipzig.de
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Abstract

Ordeals (by fire, by water, etc.) are a judicial institution in which defendants try to prove their innocence by divine judgement. In a recent law and economics paper, Leeson (2012) suggests that (medieval) ordeals “work” because, and if, ordeal takers have sufficient belief in them and because the priests administering ordeals “manipulate” them in an appropriate manner. We find that Leeson's theory also helps us understand Indian ordeals. Interestingly, some dharma texts require that the accuser agrees to the ordeal too, a requirement absent in Leeson's theory. We extend Leesons's model accordingly.

Keywords

OrdealsDecision theoryGame theory
Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 513 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2016 

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