The Epistemological Aspects of Investigative Hypotheses

Authors

  • David Petretei

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37506/ijfmt.v16i1.17477

Keywords:

investigation, hypothesis, truth, cognition

Abstract

This paper is about the philosophical and epistemological aspects of investigative hypotheses.
Criminal investigation is a kind of cognition, so it is important to know the basic philosophic concept
of knowledge and truth. Different schools and traditions of philosophy have given different answers to
these.
One of the basic elements of investigative thinking is, in addition to being reconstructive and
retrospective, thinking in hypotheses. Logical, semantic, syntactic, epistemological, and ontological
principles must be taken into account when formulating hypotheses. Choosing between the hypotheses
should be based on preference and indifference criteria. These criteria of preference and indifference
will also be logical and epistemological.
Testing, validating, and rejecting hypotheses is an essential element of investigative work. The
plausibility, credibility, and accuracy of competing hypotheses are constantly changing depending
on the investigative data obtained. It is a basic principle that all hypotheses should be tested and, if
possible, the testing should be performed in parallel.

Author Biography

  • David Petretei

    Police Major, Expert of Latent Prints, Assistant Professor at, National University of Public Service, Faculty
    of Law Enforcement, Department of Investigation Theory, Budapest, Hungary, EU. NKE RTK, 1089 Bp.,
    Dioszegi S. u. 40., Hungary

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Published

2021-11-30

How to Cite

The Epistemological Aspects of Investigative Hypotheses. (2021). Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 16(1), 337-342. https://doi.org/10.37506/ijfmt.v16i1.17477