The Naturalized Epistemology Approach to Evidence
Forthcoming in Dahlman, Stein, and Tuzet, eds., Philosophical Foundations of Evidence Law (OUP 2021)
20 Pages Posted: 15 Oct 2020
Date Written: September 27, 2020
Abstract
Studying evidence law as part of naturalized epistemology means using the tools and results of the sciences to evaluate evidence rules based on the accuracy of the verdicts they are likely to produce. In this brief chapter, we introduce the approach and address skeptical concerns about the value of systematic empirical research for evidence scholarship, focusing, in particular, on worries about the external validity of jury simulation studies. Finally, turning to applications, we consider possible reforms regarding eyewitness identifications and character evidence.
Keywords: Evidence, Naturalized epistemology, Eyewitness identification, Character evidence
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