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{"id":2469,"date":"2011-10-24T15:52:51","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T19:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=2469"},"modified":"2011-10-24T15:52:51","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T19:52:51","slug":"history-like-a-civil-trial-or-a-criminal-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2011\/10\/history-like-a-civil-trial-or-a-criminal-trial.html","title":{"rendered":"History: Like a Civil Trial or a Criminal Trial?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As many readers will know, I have in the past<\/a> compared what historians do to what a jury tries to do in a criminal case: prove matters \u201cbeyond reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/p>\n

$\"\"$ Today I reported for jury duty. In the end I wasn\u2019t picked to serve. \u201cMany are called but few are chosen.\u201d During the preliminaries, the judge emphasized the difference between a civil case, in which the standard of proof is \u201cmore probable than not,\u201d and a criminal case, in which the standard is the higher one of \u201cbeyond reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

I found myself sitting there wondering which is the better analogy for the level of certainty historians not only seek to achieve, but can reasonably expect to, especially when dealing with matters related to the distant past.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Is \u201cbeyond reasonable doubt\u201d not only inappropriate in a civil trial, but also unrealistic and\/or inappropriate in a historical investigation?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"