Abstract
This review discusses Frederick Schauer’s The Proof: Uses of Evidence in Law, Politics, and Everything Else (2022) and contends that its primary contribution is to demonstrate how evidentiary reasoning goes beyond courts and is relevant to quotidian social and political life. Schauer argues that people and institutions depend on imperfect and probabilistic sorts of evidence in discussions of standards of proof, motivated reasoning, hearsay, expert testimony, and misinformation. The review notes his distinction between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ motivated reasoning and his treatment of standards of evidence as falling on a continuum. The review, with a brief reference to the Indian legal context, suggests that evidentiary practices are closely linked with issues of credibility, power, and institutional legitimacy.
Recommended Citation
Mundkur, Aarti
(2025)
"Degrees of Conviction: A Review of The Proof,"
Journal of Law and Public Policy: Vol. 9:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/jlpp/vol9/iss2/3