Law and epistemology: An account of judgement

• Main Authors: MI, Chienkuo, RYAN, Shane
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
• Subjects: evidence; fact; judgement; justification; truth; belief; knowledge; legal theory; epistemologists; Epistemology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3714
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Three key components of a legal case are evidence, fact and judgement. In a well conducted judgement there will be an appropriate relation between these three components. Epistemologists investigating the nature of knowledge have been concerned with an analogous three components and their relation. More specifically, epistemologists have been concerned with justification, truth, and belief and how these three components need to be related if there is to be knowledge. Given the analogy, the research of epistemologists plausibly has insights to offer to legal theorists. In fact, as we shall see, what epistemology have to offer legal theory actually goes beyond this as well.