Proof and Persuasion Essays on Authority, Objectivity, and Evidence

This volume addresses issues - the nature of truth, the conditions of objectivity, the sources of authority and the uses of evidence - which have been the focus of vigorous debate both within and beyond the historical profession in recent years. Avoiding the now well-rehearsed arguments over post-modernism, as well as those that pit social constructionists against foundationalists, these essays collectively offer what we believe is a fresh perspective on this debate. Drawn from a wide range of fields (including classical studies, the history ofscience, the histories of law and religion and the history of scholarly disciplines), the authors examine, through a series of test cases, the nature of proof and the techniques of persuasion in a variety of historical contexts. What makes a proof persuasive? How is assent to a particular position gained and maintained? What are the general conditions of belief, and how are they related to particular points of view? What role does evidence play in arguments and how does the rules change over space and time? Where do rhetoric and science converge, and what role does ethics play play in the deployment of either mode? What is the relationship between 'proof' and other sources of legitimacy and/or authority? The book addresses these and related questions.