Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2016

Publication Title

Ratio Juris

Volume

29

Issue

1

First Page

59

Keywords

expert opinion testimony, evidence, source credibility, internal credibility, external credibility, argumentation scheme, scientific inquiry

Last Page

82

Abstract

Tribunals have come to depend increasingly on expertise for determining the facts in cases. However, current legal methods have proved problematic to work with. This paper argues that, as a special model of public understanding of science, assessing expertise should consider source credibility of expertise from internal aspects, including scientific validity and reliability, and external aspects involving the credibility of experts. Using the Carneades Argumentation System we show that the internal and the external aspects are mediated by the structure of the argument from expert opinion with its matching set of critical questions.

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