Testimony is Evidence

[bennyboy]

Testimony:  Dictionaries seem to be worse in the case of "testimony" [MW][OD] with giving examples, rather than what I feel is a true definition.  Many offer examples involving a court room, and someone being sworn in.  And in a circular fashion, the definition of "testimony", often then refers back to "evidence"  From previous studies, I have liked the definitions found in discussion of the epistemology of testimony such as here  and the definition that I am using, is that "testimony" is the transfer of knowledge from one person to another with the assertion that this information is true (this may be written or spoken).  Also, speaking specifically about witness testimony, which is testimony concerning something that the testifier either seen or otherwise experienced and then passes this information on to another.

At this point, at it's base, I think that witness testimony by it's definition is evidence.  It is a transfer of knowledge (information) from one person who experienced some thing, so that a another person (who did not witness it personally), to indicate that a belief of proposition is valid.  I do think that this it is the normative view, that testimony is evidence.  If you look at the definitions which I referenced, each often includes the other.  In addition at least in the U.S. this is the case, as I previously posted a lawyers Q&A site, as evidence for testimony here and here This includes a number of people who have made it their life's work to practice and study the law.  Some as I think any good lawyer should avoid answering, citing that they cannot make a determination without more details.  However the majority strongly state that testimony is evidence, and that it can be the only evidence to convict someone.  

While I think that any changes in regard to the nature of testimony as evidence are fairly recent, it is possible that I am basing my experience in the U.S. which would differ in another location and culture.  Also, I think that the question as I am posing it, is more if testimony should be evidence, rather than whether for your particular location it is currently considered so or not.

Evidence means literally "bringing something into view," not "things that will make others believe what you believe." One example of possibly useful testimony is expert testimony (though this often fails in court due to unscrupulous application of credentials). Let's say, for example, you have a coin and you want to know if it's a real Roman coin. We could observe it in broad daylight as much as we want, but we'd never know how to interpret that visual and chemical information. We will for sure want to consult an expert; and if there's a legal case involved, we will be forced to rely on expert testimonial. But even then, the expert will be expected to explain in unambiguous terms WHY he knows the coin is Roman, and there must be the sense that we could follow up: buy the same equipment he uses, read books about how certain metals are affected by time and environmental conditions, and so on. In other words, this kind of testimonial must be taken as a time-saving device, not an appeal to authority for its own sake.

Unbiased testimony about things which do not need interpretation is also reasonably useful. For example, if someone robbed me while wearing a ski mask, and I could report his tattoos to the police, then they'd be VERY likely indeed to pick the guy up and charge him, unless there was some reason to believe that we had social connections. The idea that some Canadian tourist just showed up in New York and started describing tattoos to the police just for something to do will be taken as much less likely than that a guy with the described tattoo mugged me.

But we all know that you want to establish testimony as evidence in general because there's no physical evidence for God which isn't better interpreted in non religious terms: either as lies, or as misunderstandings of the physical world, or whatever.

But the particular kind of testimonial you want to have accepted is that of anecdote-- if enough people claim to have had certain religious experiences, then that lessens the probability that the religious claims are false, or may even support the idea that the religious claims are true.

The problem is that pretty much 100% of this testimonial is either biased or requires interpretation of experiences, or involves unqualified people making attributions about things based on their own world views.

In short, I believe you are equivocating on the many kinds of testimonials that people might offer, so that our refusal to throw out the baby with the bath water will allow you a foot in the door to present an argument which does NOT in fact meet any sensible standard of evidence that non-Christians would (or should) accept. (Please understand that I do not mean this in an insulting way, like you are using a dirty trick. However, I think that is the practical function of this kind of argument-- you are doing the work of getting evidence that works for you to be accepted as credible or at least acceptable by others)