PRESUMPTIONS, PRESUMPTIVE INFERENCES AND BURDEN OF PROOF

The nature of presumptions is a topic of special interest within the field of law, not only because legal systems abound with so called presumptions of law, but also because some of these presumptions, such as the presumption of innocence and the different presumptions of validity are supposed to determine the very legitimacy of judicial procedures. Philosophers and argumentation theorists have also paid attention to presumptions and presumptive inferences as devices for reaching conclusions under uncertainty playing a widespread cognitive role in both everyday and scientific reasoning. Authors like Nicholas Rescher (2006), Douglas Walton (2008) and James Freeman (2005) even contend that presumptions are unavoidable points of departure for any inquiry, and consequently, conditions of possibility for achieving justification for our claims and beliefs. For, on the one hand, presumptions would articulate the exemption of providing further reasons for our reasons, which is something necessary if chains of reasoning are to stop at some point. And regarding argumentative exchanges, presumptions would serve to allocate the burden of proof among discussants, determining the path for a correct argumentative discussion to take place. This conference aims at bringing together argumentation theorists, philosophers, logicians and philosophers of law working 

on the role of presumptions, presumptive inferences in the field of law, in science and in everyday reasoning. Topics for the conference include:

 

1. What are presumptions?

2. What is the relationship between presumptions and presumptive 

inferences?

3. Do presumptions settle the burden of proof always in the same way?

4. Is the distinction between presumptions of law and presumptions of fact of 

any relevance?

5. What are the correctness conditions for presumptions and presumptive 

inferences?

6. How do presumptions relate to presuppositions, assumptions, etc?

 

SUBMISSIONS

Abstracts: 200-300 words, prepared for blind review; author info on separate page

Deadline: 15 January 2016

Email to Lilian Bermejo-Luque.

Notification of Acceptance: 15 February 2016

Authors of papers selected for publication will be invited to participate in a collective volume on presumptions and burden of proof.

 

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

· Regular conference fee: 150 Euro

· There are a limited number of fee weavers – 50% off the regular conference fee (75 Euro) -- for PhD students. The fee weavers are offered on competitive basis.

 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Lilian Bermejo-Luque. University of Granada

Cristina Corredor. University of Valladolid

Txetxu Ausín, Institute for Philosophy (CCHS-CSIC)

Benamí Barros. University of Granada

Research projects:

MINECO FFI2014-53926-R "Responsabilidad causal de la comisión por omisión: Una dilucidación ético-jurídica de los problemas de la inacción indebida"

MINECO FFI2014-54681-P "Los usos de las presunciones en el discurso argumentativo"