Burdens of Proof in Modern Discourse

by Richard H. Gaskins and Professor Richard H. Gaskins

Book Overview

Public and professional debates have come to rely heavily on a special type of reasoning: the argument-from-ignorance, in which conclusions depend on the lack of compelling information. "I win my argument," says the skillful advocate, "unless you can prove that I am wrong." This extraordinary gambit has been largely ignored in modern rhetorical and philosophical studies. Yet its broad force can be demonstrated by analogy with the modern legal...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300063067
• ISBN13: 9780300063066
• Release Date: February 1995
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.4"