The philosophic burden of proof is the obligation on a party in an epistemic dispute to provide sufficient warrant for their position.

Holder of the burden

When debating any issue, there is an implicit burden of proof on the person asserting a claim. This burden does not necessarily require a mathematical

Mathematical proof

In mathematics, a proof is a convincing demonstration that some mathematical statement is necessarily true. Proofs are obtained from deductive reasoning, rather than from inductive or empirical arguments. That is, a proof must demonstrate that a statement is true in all cases, without a single...

 or strictly logical proof

Formal proof

A formal proof or derivation is a finite sequence of sentences each of which is an axiom or follows from the preceding sentences in the sequence by a rule of inference. The last sentence in the sequence is a theorem of a formal system...

, although many strong arguments do rise to this level (such as in logical syllogism

Syllogism

A syllogism is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition is inferred from two or more others of a certain form...

s). Rather, the evidential standard required for a given claim is determined by convention or community standards, with regard to the context of the claim in question.

In public discourse

Burden of proof is also an important concept in the public arena of ideas. Assuming both sides have agreed to reasoned discourse, the burden of proof can serve as an effective tool to ensure that all relevant arguments from both sides of an issue are introduced. After common assumptions are established the mechanism of burden of proof takes over to keep those engaged in discourse focused on providing evidential warrant and cogent arguments for their positions.

See also

• Scientific burden of proof
• Epistemology
• Evidentialism
  Evidentialism
  Evidentialism is a theory of justification according to which the justification of a belief depends solely on the evidence for it. Technically, though belief is typically the primary object of concern, evidentialism can be applied to doxastic attitudes generally...
  
  
• Legal burden of proof
• Metaphysics
  Metaphysics
  Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
  
  
• Parsimony
• Pragma-dialectics
  Pragma-dialectics
  Pragma-dialectics, or pragma-dialectical theory, developed by and Rob Grootendorst at the University of Amsterdam, is an argumentation theory that is used to analyze and evaluate argumentation in actual practice...
  
  
• Scientific consensus
  Scientific consensus
  Scientific consensus is the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of study. Consensus implies general agreement, though not necessarily unanimity. Scientific consensus is not by itself a scientific argument, and it is not part of the...
  
  
• Scientific method
  Scientific method
  Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
  
  
• Statistical hypothesis testing
  Statistical hypothesis testing
  A statistical hypothesis test is a method of making decisions using data, whether from a controlled experiment or an observational study . In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance alone, according to a pre-determined threshold...
  
  

External links

Perhaps the following link is not appropriate here. Dangers of shifting the burden of proof to the accused in media coverage.
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