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57 S.M.U. L. Rev. 163 (2004)
Pain and Suffering, Noneconomic Damages, and the Goals of Tort Law

handle is hein.journals/smulr57 and id is 173 raw text is: PAIN AND SUFFERING, NONECONOMIC DAMAGES, AND THE GOALS OF TORT LAW Joseph H. King, Jr.* We have come to accept almost without question the monetary evalua- tion of the immeasurable perturbations of the spirit. But why should the law measure in monetary terms a loss which has no monetary dimension?1 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 164 II. EVOLUTION OF PAIN AND SUFFERING D A M A G ES ............................................... 167 III. SUBVERSION OF THE GOALS ........................ 170 A . FIRST PRINCIPLES ..................................... 170 B. DISCONTINUITY OF PAIN AND MONEY ................. 171 C. THE G OALS ........................................... 180 1. Preservation of the Peace and Retribution .......... 180 2. Loss Spreading .................................... 182 3. Loss A llocation ................................... 185 4. Deterrence and Incentives for Accident Avoidance . 187 5. Corrective Justice .................................. 193 6. Administrative Efficiency .......................... 196 7. Fairness ........................................... 197 8. A utonom y ......................................... 199 9. Permit Freedom of Enterprise ...................... 200 IV. GLIMPSE AT TORTS WITHOUT DAMAGES FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING ................................ 201 A. ELIMINATE DAMAGES FOR NONECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF PAIN AND SUFFERING ............. 201 B. ENHANCED ECONOMIC DAMAGES FOR ASSUAGING PAIN AND LIMITATIONS ............................... 205 * UTK and Walter W. Bussart Distinguished Professor of Law. I had an opportu- nity to share my ideas for this article with participants at a University of Tennessee College of Law Faculty Forum and at a Symposium on Damages sponsored by the Advocacy Center at the Tennessee College of Law. 1. Louis L. Jaffe, Damages for Personal Injury: The Impact of Insurance, 18 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 219, 222 (1953).