Beyond the shadow of a doubt, or beyond a shadow of a doubt, is a standard of proof. The phrase means the issue in question is so obvious, or has been so thoroughly proven, that there can exist no doubt^[1]. Two possible interpretations of "Beyond a shadow" might refer, first,to the fact that doubt could be nowhere in the vicinity (completely expelled from the issue), or second, to the thoroughness of the argument (a shadow being even less substantial than a doubt itself)^[2].

Contents 1 Burden of proof 1.1 Interchangeability with reasonable doubt 1.2 Scientific and philosophic perspectives 2 History 3 References

[edit] Burden of proof

Beyond the shadow of a doubt is a standard of proof, and as such, falls along a continuum of certainty. An example of such a continuum might advance as follows:

1. air of reality - only having the traces of truth
2. preponderance of the evidence - it is more likely than not
3. clear and convincing evidence - it is substantially more likely than not
4. beyond a reasonable doubt - no reasonable doubt could be raised
5. beyond the shadow of a doubt - no doubt whatsoever could be raised

[edit] Interchangeability with reasonable doubt

Beyond the shadow of a doubt is sometimes used interchangeably, although mistakenly, with beyond a reasonable doubt, especially in courts of law^[3]. Some feel the former an impossible standard of proof in court, while the latter is more logically accommodating, allowing for the limits of human reason^[4].

[edit] Scientific and philosophic perspectives

Beyond the shadow of doubt cannot be a scientific term because that level of certainty exists beyond the limits of science, i.e., because science depends on necessarily uncertain a posteriori knowledge, nothing in science could be beyond doubt. For this reason, one might find it useful to think of beyond the shadow of doubt as a metaphysical description.

[edit] History

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, or beyond a shadow of a doubt appears to be a phrase that has grown up in the colloquial, predominantly from the simpler form "beyond a doubt," circa 1300.^[3]

Other notable references to the exact phrase beyond the shadow of a doubt include:

• popular news print around 1820
• Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 "The Scarlet Letter".
• Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1889 The Gondoliers as, “Of that there is no manner of doubt--no probable, possible shadow of doubt”
• Robert Frost's 1915 poem "Trials by Existence”

[edit] References