为作为证明方法的“印证”辩护

Justification for “Corroboration”as a Method of Proof

我国理论界围绕印证证明模式展开了诸多讨论,但对于印证的内涵、理论基础、必要性、前提条件等问题,还存在诸多模糊和误解之处。有鉴于此,应对印证概念作进一步具体化的界定:其内涵大于"一致性"但小于"蕴含",相当于"相互符合"。印证作为一种证明方法,其理论基础是证据整体主义和作为"真"之标准的融贯论,而不是作为"真"之定义的符合论。鉴于人类的认知限度,印证是我们评价证据的必要手段,这一点也得到了心理学实证研究的支持。因此,从某种程度上说,印证方法具有生物学和心理学意义上的必然性。印证方法的有效应用,取决于其前提条件是否得到满足,而很多所谓印证规则的负面效应,恰恰是由于没有满足适用印证方法的前提条件所致,而不是印证方法本身所致。

In China,the method of corroboration,as a universal empirical rule,is not only established in law,but also applied universally by factfinders in practice.But in the theoretical circle,there are many ambiguities and misunderstandings about the concept,the theoretical basis,the necessity,and the preconditions of corroboration.There are even people who claim that“corroboration”can lead to misjudged criminal cases.In view of this situation,this paper attempts to clarify a series of misunderstandings surrounding“corroboration”,respond to some typical criticisms,and defend“corroboration”as a method of proof from an interdisciplinary perspective.The connotation of“corroboration”is more than“consistency”,less than“entailment”,and equivalent to“fitting together’”.The theoretical foundation of the method of“corroboration”is evidential holism and coherence as criterion of truth,rather than the coherence theory of truth and the correspondence theory of truth.In view of the cognitive characteristics of human beings,the method of“corroboration”is the necessary means for us to evaluate the evidence,and this is supported by the related results of philosophical,psychological and other researches.So,to some extent,the method of“corroboration”has the inevitability in the biological and psychological senses.It is also a universal method of proof,not unique to China.But the effective application of the method of“corroboration”depends on the satisfaction of its preconditions.Many of the so-called negative effects of the method is precisely the result of the failure to meet these preconditions,rather than inherent in the method itself.