Abstract
In the last fifty years, the study of argumentation has become one of the most exciting intellectual crossroads in the modern academy. Two of the key concepts of argumentation theory are presumptions and burdens of proof. Their functions have been explicitly recognized in legal theory since the Middle Ages, but their pervasive presence in all forms of argumentation and in inquiries beyond the law - including politics, science, religion, philosophy, and interpersonal communication - has been the object of study since the nineteenth century. However, the documents and essays central to any discussion of presumptions and burdens of proof as devices of argumentation are scattered across a variety of remote sources in rhetoric, law, and philosophy. This book brings together for the first time key texts relating to the history of the theory of presumptions along with contemporary studies that identify and give insight into the issues facing students and scholars today. This volume's first half contains historical sources and begins with excerpts from Aristotle's Topics and goes on to include the Locus classicus chapter from Bishop Whately's preeminent Elements of Rhetoric as well as later reactions to Whately's views. The second half of the collection contains contemporary essays by contributors from the fields of law, philosophy, rhetoric, and argumentation and communication theory. These essays explore contemporary understandings of presumptions and burdens of proof and their role in numerous contexts today.