This article explores the relationships between legal proof and fundamental epistemic concepts such as knowledge and justification. A survey of the legal literature reveals a confusing array of seemingly inconsistent proposals and presuppositions regarding these relationships. This article makes two contributions. First, it reconciles a number of apparent inconsistencies and tensions in accounts of the epistemology of legal proof. Second, it argues that there is a deeper connection between knowledge and legal proof than is typically argued for or presupposed in (...) the legal literature. This connection is illustrated through a discussion of the Gettier problem in epistemology. It is argued that the gap or disconnect between truth and justification that undermines knowledge in Gettier cases also potentially undermines the success of legal verdicts. (shrink)

Proposed lie-detection technology based on neuroscience poses significant challenges for the law. The law must respond to the science with an adequate understanding of such evidence, its significance, and its limitations. This paper makes three contributions toward those ends. First, it provides an account of the preliminary neuroscience research underlying this proposed evidence. Second, it discusses the nature and significance of such evidence, how such evidence would fit with legal practices and concepts, and its potential admissibility. Finally, it analyzes the (...) constitutional protections that may limit the compelled production of such evidence. (shrink)

This paper explores two persistent questions in the literature on presumptions: the place and the nature of presumptions in law and legal argumentation. These questions were originally raised by James Bradley Thayer, one of the masters of the Law of Evidence and the author of the classic chapter devoted this subject in A preliminary treatise on Evidence. Like Thayer, I believe that these questions deserve attention. First the paper shows that the connection between presumptions and argumentation is a constant feature (...) in the literature on presumptions, since its foundation in the Middle Ages to modern times. James Bradley Thayer was probably the last jurist who clearly saw that presumptions belong to argumentation. Second, the paper examines two sources of controversy in the language of presumptions. First, “presumption” is an ambiguous word in the legal discourse. As a result, it is almost impossible to provide a clear and succinct answer to the question “What is a presumption?”. Second, there are at least four reconstructions of the concept of presumption whose merits and shortcomings are relevant to explore. The analysis presented here may be of interest for legal and non-legal scholars and, hopefully, it may help to shed light on the possibilities and limits of an interdisciplinary dialogue about presumptions. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article defends the importance of epistemic safety for legal evidence. Drawing on discussions of sensitivity and safety in epistemology, the article explores how similar considerations apply to legal proof. In the legal context, sensitivity concerns whether a factual finding would be made if it were false, and safety concerns how easily a factual finding could be false. The article critiques recent claims about the importance of sensitivity for the law of evidence. In particular, this critique argues that sensitivity does (...) not have much of an effect on the value of legal evidence and that it fails to explain legal doctrine. By contrast, safety affects the quality of legal evidence, and safety better explains central features of the law of evidence, including probative value, admissibility rules, and standards of proof. (shrink)

Este artículo es una breve exposición de la formación discursiva de la biopolítica propuesta por Michel Foucault en la década de los setenta. El propósito es presentar el estatuto teórico original del mencionado concepto como una tecnología de doble faz, establecida en los siglos XVII, XVIII y XIX que interviene y establece controles reguladores sobre la vida biológica en dos formas que no son antitéticas. La primera, se centra en el cuerpo como máquina: anatomopolítica del cuerpo humano. La segunda, se (...) enfoca en el cuerpo-especie: es la biopolítica de la población. La metodología utilizada es un análisis de tipo documental que agrupó los cursos: Defender la sociedad; Seguridad, territorio y población y Nacimiento de la biopolítica, así como el libro Historia de la sexualidad 1, para conocer de manera sintética y reflexionar la idea y el sentido original del término como una tecnología de conducción de conductas individuales y colectivas. (shrink)

El consentimiento informado en investigación se inscribe en la relación médico-paciente, que ha sufrido, y sigue sufriendo, importantes cambios: desde el planteamiento clásico, como relación de amistad, al planteamiento contemporáneo, como relación entre extraños, que es regulada por normas éticas y legales. El principal objetivo de estas últimas es conseguir, mediante requisitos formales, que dicha relación no perjudique al paciente. Bajo esta luz, se examina y compara el consentimiento informado en las principales normativas internacionales y en la ley española. Especialmente, (...) nos centramos en la hoja de información al paciente, la comprensión, la voluntariedad, la certificación y la comunicación de los resultados de la investigación. Se concluye con la observación de la seria limitación intrínseca de la que adolecen estas normativas, que impiden, más que favorecen, el trato adecuado al paciente. doi: 10.5294/pebi.2015.19.2.3. (shrink)

RESUMO O artigo examina a função da noção de obrigação política no pensamento do filósofo italiano da política e do direito Alessandro Passerin d’Entrèves (1902-1985), especialmente em sua relação com o regime democrático e as formas de resistência por parte dos cidadãos. Pela análise dos principais argumentos do autor a esse respeito, o artigo procura demonstrar a flexibilidade do conceito de Estado do autor e a importância da filosofia enquanto ponto de intersecção entre a moral e o direito, constituindo-se como (...) instrumento de abordagem fenomenológica das formas de associação humana. (shrink)

En este artículo describiremos la vitalidad del sistema fonológico del mapudungun hablado por escolares pewenches de la Provincia del Biobío, VIII Región. Específicamente, nos hemos propuesto: a) Determinar los fonos/fonemas, y su fonotaxis, que se relevan como indicadores de vitalidad, b) Identificar las transferencias fonético-fonológicas presentes en la fonología del pewenche hablado por estos escolares y c) Interpretar las transferencias encontradas en términos del grado de vitalidad de la fonología de la lengua. La muestra está conformada por un grupo de (...) 20 escolares bilingües de entre 12 y 15 años de edad, que se encuentran cursando 7° y 8° año básico en escuelas rurales pertenecientes a dos comunidades pewenches del valle del Queuco, en la comuna de Alto Biobío. Para la recolección del material fonológico, se aplicó a los participantes una lista léxica de 65 ítems, material que se complementó con la narración oral en mapudungun de un cuento. Según nuestros datos, hemos podido constatar la existencia de una serie de rasgos fónicos en el mapudungun hablado por los escolares pewenches que obedece a la influencia de las estructuras fonológicas del castellano. Sin embargo, el grado y la difusión de los fenómenos de transferencia se desarrollan de manera heterogénea en ambas comunidades en estudio, debido, entre otros factores, a la intensidad del contacto. In this article we will describe the vitality of the phonological system Mapudungun spoken by Pewenche schoolchildren from the Biobío province, VIII Region. We intend: a) To determine the phones/phonemes, and their phonotactics, which are revealed as vitality markers. b) To identify the phonetic-phonological transferences which are present in the Pewenche spoken by these schoolchildren, and, c) To interpret the transferences found in terms of the degree of the language phonological vitality. The sample is composed of 20 bilingual schoolchildren from 12 to 15 years old, who are in 7th and 8th grade in rural primary schools belonging to two Pehuenche comunities from Valle del Queuco, in the city of Alto Biobío. To collect the phonological material, we applied a 64-item lexical list, which was complemented with the oral narration of a tale in Mapudungun. According to our data, we have been able to verify the existence of a series of phonic features in the Mapudungun spoken by Pewenche schoolchildren, which originate because of the influence of the Spanish phonological structure. However, the degree and spread of the transference phenomena develop in a heterogeneous way in both of the studied communities. due to the contact intensity, among other possible factors. (shrink)

Western élite groups’ moralities and actions can and should be studied empirically. Contrary to belief held in the 1980s in mainstream social anthropology that fieldwork in the classic anthropological fashion could not be done among the western élite, the findings of long-term research in this field have yielded key ethnographic insights leading to academic and public debate. In this article I draw on ethnographic research on legitimacy, power, and governance among key Neapolitan élite groups to offer reflections on a style (...) of governance that has at once engendered and thrived on the blurring of the dividing line between what is legitimate and what is not legitimate in public life. The discussion focuses on powerful, tightly networked groups that, inspired by an elitist philosophy of power, have been hard at work to gain and maintain power, while losing trust and authority. The analysis builds towards an understanding of their implosion and of the corresponding erosion of the relationship between citizenship and governance. (shrink)

The notion of rationality is crucial to Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Economics, Law, Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, etc. Most if not all of these disciplines presuppose the agent's capacity to infer in a logical manner. Theories about rationality tend toward two extremes: either they presuppose an unattainable logical capacity, or they tend to minimize the role of logic, in light of vast data on fallacious inferential performance. We analyze some presuppositions in the classical view of logic, and suggest empirical and (...) theoretical evidence for the place of inferential heuristics in a theory of rationality. We propose (1) to outline a new theory of rationality that includes the key notion of logical capacity as a necessary but realistic factor, (2) to expand the notion of inference to include non-deductive inference, specifically non-monotonic, and (3) to emphasize the logical role of inferential heuristics and constraints such as cognitive economy. (shrink)

McCarthy and Howard (2023) present a “Non-Domination” approach to supported decision-making, specially to help intellectually and developmentally disabled (IDD) patients rather than “Mental Prosthe...

La utilización de las nociones de “conservador” y “progresista” en las ciencias sociales (y en la opinión pública) ha llegado a configurar dos ideologías políticas. En este número se tratan, a partir de Kant, diversos sentidos de tales nociones en el contexto actual: la perspectiva de la Economía constitucional de Buchanan, la concepción de la sociedad abierta de Popper, la teoría de la justicia de Rawls y la concepción filosófica de la vida social y política de Ortega y Gasset.

Este trabalho analisa a influência tributária na definição do modelo constitucional de atribuição dos resultados econômicos da exploração do petróleo offshore, no Brasil. Além da abordagem constitucional do tema, destaca-se a participação dos entes federativos estaduais nas rendas da produção de petróleo, sua federalização e, em decorrência, a redução das rendas dos entes federativos subnacionais, implicando num movimento compensatório pela via da utilização de elementos de natureza tributária, tais como o extinto Imposto Único sobre Minerais e o regime constitucional especial (...) de cobrança na origem do ICMS devido nas operações de combustíveis e derivados de petróleo. (shrink)

This thesis analyzes from a philosophical perspective different models for nonmonotonic inference, belief revision and the handling of inconsistencies. ;The first chapter serves as an introduction to the subject, giving examples and analyzing the main concepts. As a result of these discussions, this thesis tries to: produce a refined map of the main notions related to this subject, maintain that there can be a fault tolerant logic that stands in support of fault tolerant reasoning, and defend the use of deductive (...) databases as models for changes of belief. ;The second chapter explores monotonic proposals to deal with uncertain reasoning. These include logics based on a classical notion of consequence, interpretations of defeasible reasoning as containing implicit premises, and systems in which temporal change is an integral part of the representation of states of affairs, via temporal indices or more elaborate devices. ;The third chapter explores quantitative approaches to nonmonotonic reasoning like dispositional logic, and theories of probabilistic reasoning including Bayesian, certainty factors, and Dempster-Shafer. ;The fourth chapter explores qualitative approaches. Here we mention conditional, default, and nonmonotonic logics, and the circumscription and autoepistemic formalisms. ;The fifth chapter studies different proposals to deal with contradictions. It starts with a review of the types of belief inconsistencies, and then it presents mechanisms to prevent, control or correct them. I explore paraconsistent logics, specially relevance logics, to "bracket" the area of conflict and allow inferences about non-related topics to continue unaffected. Then I examine different methods to get rid of the inconsistencies, including the use of dependency-directed backtracking and of relevance logic. ;Finally, I present my conclusions, and mention some of the open problems. (shrink)

When is a proposition true? It is common to expert an answer of the form “at instant x”. In section I) I present an example of the consequences that such instantaneous semantics in tense logic can have, and review some of the problems that have led to the proposal of using intervals, rather than instants, as the indices at which to evaluate propositions. In the section II) I present some of the problems with the intervals themselves, and in section III) (...) I consider the possibilities of having he best of both worlds. Due to the still tentative character of interval semantics, I focus on the consideration of metatheoretical issues rather than on the technical points of the particular systems of interval semantics so far proposed. (shrink)

"When misfortune kills citizens by stripping them of their material well-being, this discomfort is called poverty." In the current landscape, populism spreads across America and Europe. A lucid and argued warning about the discontent in which we live and the one that awaits us.

This chapter highlights how the encouragement of citizens' participation may in fact masquerade their rulers' attempt to create consensus for their ‘superior’ political project. It illustrates in ethnographic detail how rulers have symbolically used the public space, along with policies of urban regeneration, to win popular consensus and, thus, legitimise their position. The analysis addresses a central problem in the dynamics of democratic government, as it shows that lack of responsibility and superimposition of a political rhetoric on good governance eventually (...) leads to people's distrust of those in power. The case of Naples significantly points to the fact that, while people may be granted formal membership of society, rulers' pedagogic approaches and self-legitimisation do in fact deny fundamental citizenship rights, such as social and economic rights. (shrink)