A fortiori is a Latin term used in logic, rhetoric, and law to draw inferences from strong, indisputable facts. It establishes that if one thing is true, another must also be true. It can be useful in establishing guilt or innocence when direct evidence is lacking. Examples include the distance from a crime scene and a person’s physical abilities. A fortiori arguments can help lawyers, juries, or judges draw conclusions based on evidence presented.
A fortiori is a Latin term that can be translated as from or from the strongest reason. The term is used in a variety of disciplines, including the studies of logic and rhetoric. When used in law, it is often a way of setting up an inference that can be drawn from a strong, indisputable fact: that if one thing is true, another must also be true.
An example of how an a fortiori argument works can be of great help in understanding the idea. Two gentlemen were sitting together on a bench on the night of a robbery and one of them, Mr Smith, has since been accused of committing the robbery. It cannot be established directly that Mr. Smith did not commit the crime, but it can be established that the gentleman with him, Mr. Jones, did not. It turns out that the distance to the robbery site is too great for Mr. Jones to have fled to commit the crime by the time the police determine it happened.
Mr. Jones is very fit and athletic, and even with these characteristics the distance was too far. It can therefore be established that Mr. Jones could not and did not commit the crime. Mr. Smith has a limp, weighs 400 pounds, and uses a cane. If Mr. Jones couldn’t commit the robbery, certainly Mr. Smith couldn’t. He failed to reach the robbery site in time. An a fortiori argument is thus established. One proposition supports the other and both become true.
Other examples of a fortiori include inferences drawn about many different kinds of things. The fact that 13 is less than 20 means that 13 is also less than 100 because it is recognized that 20 is less than one hundred. A person younger than his sister is also younger than anyone else his sister’s age or older. In essence, when one thing is true and accepted, it can make other things true as well.
In the context of the law, these inferences can be very useful because they can help lawyers, juries or judges draw other conclusions based on the evidence presented. An excellent fictional example of this is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch argues a fortiori that Tom Robinson could not have beaten Mayella Ewell because the blows must have come from a left-handed person, and Tom didn’t have the use of his left hand.
When it is difficult to establish direct evidence of someone’s innocence or guilt, often the best course of action is to search the situation for other evidence that creates a clear and logical inference. Finding something that makes something else true or false is of great use. There are many cases where something is proved or disproven by the strongest reason, or a fortiori.
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