Plausible deniability and evasion of burden of proof

Abstract

This article examines the normative structure of certain distinctive typesof arguments that use techniques of plausible deniablility to evade fulfill-ment of legitimate requirements of burden of proof. Understanding howsuch techniques are used in everyday argumentation is shown to be crucialto gaining insight into how informal fallacies work as effective tactics ofdeception when two parties reason together. The techniques use an indirectform of putting forward a proposition that a target respondent