1st Edition

Logic, Probability, and Presumptions in Legal Reasoning

Edited By Scott Brewer Copyright 1998

    At least since plato and Aristotle, thinkers have pondered the relationship between philosophical arguments and the "sophistical" arguments offered by the Sophists -- who were the first professional lawyers. Judges wield substantial political power, and the justifications they offer for their decisions are a vital means by which citizens can assess the legitimacy of how that power is exercised. However, to evaluate judicial justifications requires close attention to the method of reasoning behind decisions. This new collection illuminates and explains the political and moral importance in justifying the exercise of judicial power.

    Chapter 1 SYMBOLIC LOGIC: A RAZOR-EDGED TOOL FOR DRAFTING AND INTERPRETING LEGAL DOCUMENTS, LAYMAN E. ALLEN; Chapter 2 EXEMPLARY REASONING: SEMANTICS, PRAGMATICS, AND THE RATIONAL FORCE OF LEGAL ARGUMENT BY ANALOGY BY ANALOGY, Scott Brewer; Chapter 3 Subjective Probability and the Paradox of the Gatecrasher, L. Jonathan Cohen; Chapter 4 THE PLACE OF LOGIC IN THE LAW; Chapter 5 Logical Method and Law, JOHN DEWEY; Chapter 6 The Laws of Probability and the Law of the Land, David Kayet; Chapter 7 REASON AND LOGIC IN THE COMMON LAW; Chapter 8 LOGIC AND LAW; Chapter 9 LAW LOGIC, JEFFRIE G. MURPHY; Chapter 10 THE EVIDENCE OR THE EVENT? ON JUDICIAL PROOF AND THE ACCEPTABILITY OF VERDICTS, Charles Nesson; Chapter 11 LOGIC IN THE LAW, EDWIN W. PATTERSON; Chapter 12 A NOTE ON SYMBOLIC LOGIC AND THE LAW, ROBERT S. SUMMERS; Chapter 13 SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY, CONCEPTUAL VAGUENESS, AND THE LAWYER'S HARD THINKING, ILMAR TAMMELO; Chapter 14 TRIAL BY MATHEMATICS: PRECISION AND RITUAL IN THE LEGAL PROCESS, Laurence H. Tribe;

    Biography

    Scott Brewer