Peruzzi, Edoardo and De Benedetto, Matteo (2026) Higher-Order Evidence and Legal Cross-Examination. [Preprint]

Text HOE_and_cross_examination-preprint.pdf Download (136kB)

Abstract

This paper aims to show the central role that higher-order evidence plays in an established cultural practice in our society, namely, legal cross-examination. First, we will
show how legal cross-examination can be epistemologically reconstructed as an epistemic practice that has the higher-order defeat of a witness’s testimony as its main goal. Then, we will discuss how different paradigmatic cases of successful cross-examination arguably instantiate different mechanisms of higher-order defeat that have been described in the epistemological literature. We will argue that our analysis further demonstrates the significance of higher-order evidence as an epistemic phenomenon and provides a prima facie case for a pluralist view of higher-order defeat.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Peruzzi, Edoardo edoardoperuzzi96@gmail.com 0000-0002-9379-4019 De Benedetto, Matteo
Additional Information:	Accepted in Synthese.
Keywords:	higher-order evidence, legal epistemology, cross-examination
Subjects:	General Issues > Evidence General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Depositing User:	Dr. Edoardo Peruzzi
Date Deposited:	07 Feb 2026 19:29
Last Modified:	07 Feb 2026 19:29
Item ID:	28147
Subjects:	General Issues > Evidence General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Date:	February 2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28147

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item