The Speech Act of Presumption by Reversal of Burden of Proof

Abstract

This paper clarifies the connection between presumption and burden of proof by refining the speech act analysis modeling how the putting forward of a presumption in a conversational exchange essentially works by reversing the burden of proof already operative in the exchange. To help the reader really understand how presumptions work, three everyday examples and two legal examples of presumptions are given in the first section. Presumptions are distinguished from assumptions, assertions, presuppositions and defeasible reasoning.