A Dialogical Theory of Presumption

Artificial Intelligence and Law, Vol. 16, pp. 209-243, 2008

34 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2011

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

The notions of burden of proof and presumption are central to law, but as noted in McCormick on Evidence, they are also the slipperiest of any of the family of legal terms employed in legal reasoning. However, recent studies of burden of proof and presumption offer formal models that can render them into precise tools useful for legal reasoning. In this paper, the various theories and formal models are comparatively evaluated with the aim of working out a more comprehensive theory that can integrate the components of the argumentation structure on which they are based. It is shown that the notion of presumption has both a logical component and a dialectical component, and the new theory of presumption developed in the paper, called the dialogical theory, combines these two components.

Keywords: evidential reasoning, burden of proof, argumentation, dialogue model, defeasible reasoning.

Suggested Citation

Walton, Douglas, A Dialogical Theory of Presumption (2008). Artificial Intelligence and Law, Vol. 16, pp. 209-243, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1754492

Douglas Walton (Contact Author)

University of Windsor ( email )

401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4
Canada

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