An Epistemology for Forensic Psychiatry.

Authors

Philip J Candilis

Published in

The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Aug 20, 2026. Epub Aug 20, 2026.

Abstract

Forensic opinion becomes authoritative when its epistemic (knowledge-based) content achieves a certain quality and credence. This is the point at which information qualifies as expert testimony. It is epistemology that traditionally unites the factual state of things (truth) with a level of surety (belief) to become knowledge. The following description of an epistemology, or way of knowing, for forensic psychiatry draws on traditional and contemporary scholarship to propose an alliance of logic and probability for moving from inquiry to knowledge. Using probabilistic reasoning to accrue evidence toward a conclusion, this approach acknowledges the uncertainties of science and human behavior, the biases of observation and research, and the misinformation and doubt of a political era typified by skepticism and distrust.

PMID:
42624641
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 21 Aug 2026.

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