Foundations of law: Logical Reasoning

What is the post hoc or ergo propter hoc logical fallacy? What is an example?

After this therefore because of this.

○ Because B followed A, then B must have been caused by A.

The fallacy of post Hoc ergo propter Hoc begins with the observation that two events occurred in sequence.

What is the logical fallacy argumentum ad hominem?

Attacks the person making the argument and not the argument itself.

What is the logical fallacy of the strawman's argument?

Distorts another's argument into a less defensible position and attack only the latter.

Conclusion does not follow from the other person's argument.

Argument may seem plausible but it may not necessarily lead to the same conclusion.

What is the logical fallacy of argumentum ad Ignoratiam?

The fallacy that because a proposition has not been proven to be false it must be true, or because a proposition has not been proven to be true it must be false.

What is the logical fallacy of a slipper slope?

Because one thing happened inevitably much worse things of the same type will happen down the road.

Essence is the seeing inevitability of the conclusion

What is logical fallacy of question begging or petitio principii?

The argument assumes the very thing to be proved.

What is the logical fallacy of the false dilemma?

Where an advocate claims that there are only a few (usually 2) alternatives, when there are considerably more options.

What logical fallacy of appeal to motives? What are the 2 types?

Basing an argument on a person's motives rather than the reasons to support the argument.

ppeal to popularity

Appeal to popularity

A proposition is argued to be true because it is widely held to be so.

Appeal to pity

You state that your proposition should be believed because you are to be pitied.

What logical fallacy is Tu Quoque?

You the one making the argument should not be believed because you do the same thing you are arguing against.

What is the logical fallacy Is/Ought Naturalist ?

You cannot drive a normative statement (a statement that has the word "should" or "ought" in it) from a fact( a statement with the word "is" in it).

What is the logical fallacy of hasty generalizations?

Deriving a conclusion from an inadequate sample size.

A failure of induction

What is the logical fallacy of genetic fallacy?

The oppponent of an argument attacks the origin of the belief rather than its substance.

What is the logical fallacy of the undistributed middle?

It is fallacious to argue in the form

○ All A are B

○ All C are B

○ Therefore all A are C

○ The middle term B is not distributed equally or at all between A and C.

What are matter of facts?

Matters of fact determined in an initial trial-level proceeding are usually deferred to by the appellate court above them.

The FRCP demand that the findings of fact remain undisturbed on appeal unless the appellate court finds them "clearly erroneous"

What are conclusions of law?

Conclusions of law made by the initial trial level court below are usually not deferred to by the appellate court at the next subsequent steps.

Conclusions of law made by the trial court are subject to de novo review.

What is the public domain?

Whether some action or thing is from the public domain- that is, the government- might mean that a particular statute or regulation applied to that thing or action, does not.

This depends on whether- The actor has done an action that governments do.

What is the private domain?

The actor has done an action that private parties do.

What is a legal fiction? Examples?

Legal fiction is a way of thinking of something in law.

For common law legal fictions act as the triggering key event for the cause of action happening when it actually did not or had not happened yet.

Also statutory legal fictions.

Most important aspect is that any legislative intent is a statutory legal fiction and it is produced post-hoc.

Constitutional fictions: most if not all non-specified individual rights in the Constitution can be considered a legal fictions in a sense.

Example: privacy and substantive due process.

What are burdens?

Burdens are the law's instructions about how to process facts and judgements in a world where little or nothing is known to a certainty and where there are near infinite degrees of uncertainty.

Burdens are one way of specifying the degree of confidence needed before a legal decision can be reached and justified.

What is the burden of production?

The burden of production is about matching a fact with a piece of evidence and is tied with making a prima facie case.

It is a party's obligation to come forward with sufficient evidence to support a particular proposition of fact.

What is the burden of proof?

Burden of proof is the duty of the person alleging the case to prove it rather than the duty of the one party or the other to introduce evidence.

The plaintiff has the obligation of proving to the fact finder all of the elements of the cause of action by required quantum or amount of evidence.

What is a presumption?

Presumption is a default assumption about inferences of fact that when probed reveal key principles within the legal culture and the hierarchies among those principles.

What is a presumption of law?

Presumption of law that federal statutes are constitutional.

Presumptions can be written into statutes which are triggered if a factual event occurs.

Can be rebuttable or rebuttable

What is a rebuttable presumption?

Rebuttable means that a fact or set of facts can make the presumption not operative anymore.

Can be equated to burdens of proof as the rebuttable presumption can stand as a legal fact unless the challenger can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that it is incorrect.

What is a irebuttable presumption?

Irrebuttable means that no fact can overcome the presumption.