Varieties of Proof

Validate, certify, and demonstrate. From mathematical logic to criminal procedures, from the writing of history to the issuance of administrative authorizations for the circulation of pharmaceutical products, and from the principle of precaution to sociological surveys, proof is an implicit or explicit requirement of knowledge. It also often conditions action. Be it in science or in commonsense, proving implies providing certainties concerning the legitimacy or even the necessity of decisions to be taken and the appropriateness of discourses and practices. Proving and making sense are connected. This issue of Communications proposes to look into the question of proof by approaching it from two complementary and mutually insightful angles. On one hand, the act of proof, the diverse procedures it entails, and its modes of existence shall be explored. On the other hand, the human and social sciences, law, mathematics, as well as their procedures and modes of existence shall be approached with a focus on proof and its cognitive centrality.