Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-j7cmm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-10T13:50:03.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Explanationism All the Way Down

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2012

Ronald J. Allen
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

The probabilistic account of juridical proof meets insurmountable problems. A better explanation of juridical proof is that it is a form of inference to the best explanation that involves the comparative plausibility of the parties’ stories. In addition, discrete evidentiary matters such as relevance and probative value are also best understood as involving inference to the best explanation rather than being probabilistic.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Episteme , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , October 2008 , pp. 320 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

References

REFERENCES

Allen, Ronald J. 1992. “The Hearsay Rule as a Rule of Admission.” 76 Minnesota Law Review 76: 797–812.Google Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. 1994. “Factual Ambiguity and a Theory of Evidence.” Northwestern University Law Review 88: 604–40.Google Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. 1997. “Rationality, Algorithms, and Juridical Proof: A Preliminary Inquiry.” International Journal of Evidence and Proof 1997: 254–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. 2003. “The Error of Expected Loss Minimization.” Law, Probability & Risk 2: 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Ronald J.& Jehl, Sarah A.. 2003. “Burdens of Persuasion in Civil Cases: Algorithms v. Explanations.” Michigan State Law Review 2003: 893.Google Scholar
Allen, Ronald J., Kuhns, Richard B., Swift, Eleanor & Schwartz, David S.. 2006. Evidence: Text, Problems, and Cases. New York: Aspen Publishers.Google Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. & Larry, Laudan. 2009. Forthcoming. “Deadly Dilemmas.” Texas Tech Law Review.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. & Pardo, Michael S.. 2007. “The Problematic Value of Mathematical Models of Evidence.” Journal of Legal Studies 36: 107–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Ronald J. & Pardo, Michael S.. 2008. “Juridical Proof and the Best Explanation.” Law & Philosophy 27: 223–68.Google Scholar
Federal Rules of Evidence 2006.Google Scholar
Goldman, Alvin I. 1992. Liaisons: Philosophy Meets the Cognitive and Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Laudan, Larry. 2006. Truth, Error, and Criminal Law: An Essay in Legal Epistemology. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipton, Peter. 2004. Inference to the Best Explanation. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 171 (1997).Google Scholar