Indicators of the Distribution of the Burden of Proof

In the opening stage of a critical discussion the parties establish the point of departure for the discussion. Together they determine the procedure they will follow in the discussion: which utterances must be defended by which party in the discussion – who has the burden of proof for what? – and which utterances do not have to be defended but can be used, instead, as starting points in the defence of other utterances under discussion? In order to be able to establish which utterances should be defended in a discussion and which not, it is important to know which words and expressions are indicators of the distribution of the burden of proof, and which words and expressions are indicators of the common starting points. In this chapter we examine indicators of the burden of proof. In chapter 5 indicators of common starting points are examined.