News - Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics - Faculty of Philosophy

Call for papers: Synthese Topical Collection 'Evidence in law and ethics'

Guest editors: Adam Dyrda, Tomasz Żuradzki. Deadline: October 10, 2021.

Topical Collection Description:

The concept of evidence is a major epistemological notion in jurisprudential literature. The case is similar in practical ethics, in particular in relation to the evaluation of clinical decisions or research practice, where the concept of evidence has recently been acquiring more attention. However, there is no consensus as to what counts as proper evidence in these domains, nor has the general concept of evidence been given a clear explication. Historically, some technical notions related to evidence (e.g. proof, doubt, testimony, witness, expert) have been developed in the domain of law, to some extent drawing on ideas developed within the philosophy of science. Concepts such as evidential threshold, burden of proof, probative value, criminal profiling, and evidential restrictions or exclusions (such as unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence) constitute an important part of legal thinking. Philosophical inquiries obviously supply new insights into this old theme of legal investigations, e.g. the conflicts between different types of evidence, on how to evaluate their hierarchy and strength (in abstract terms), as well as on making decisions based on the evidence (in particular circumstances). Thus the idea arose to provide an interdisciplinary platform for a thorough discussion of evidence related themes as they are used by legal scholars, ethicists, epistemologists, and philosophers of science.

Guest Editors:

Adam Dyrda, Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Law and Administration, ul. Bracka 12, 31-005, Kraków, Poland (professor)

Tomasz Żuradzki, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Philosophy & Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics, ul. Grodzka 52, 31-044 Kraków, Poland (professor)

More information on the Synthese website.

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