Application & Logic

1. Application & Logic • Rules are consistent with social norms • someone pays • everything costs • there will be free riders • rules need interpretation (justice) • denial is expected • evidence can lead to truth (Western ideal) • law is socially evolving

2. Application & Logic • Rules and social norms cont. • system must render a decision (no ties) • fact are evidence are the basis of justice • assumptions are irrelevant • evidence is weighted (2 sides tell stories) • cost follows benefit • winning is the goal • protection of individual (U.S. most individual)

3. Logic of Legal Argument • Argument- structure of the facts which leads to irrefutable conclusion • Argument is only true when premises are proved • Premises used to frame issue and draw conclusion • Issues can be legal, social, ethical, technical, etc.

4. Logic cont. • Issues requires resolution • Premise 1 (requires support) • Premise 2 (requires support • Premise p (requires support) • Irrefutable conclusion- short and clear “guilty” • Proving the premise is the key to winning the argument

5. Logic fallacies • Fallacies of relevance • appeal to force • appeal to pity • appeal to people • ad hominen attack • straw man • red herring

6. Logic fallacies cont. • Fallacies of weak induction • insufficient support (obvious) • post hoc deduction • appeal to authority • appeal to ignorance • hasty generalization • false causation • slippery slope • weak analogy

7. Logic fallacies cont. • Fallacies of construction • begging the question • suppressed evidence (confirmation trap) • circular reasoning • false dichotomy