Epistemic Modifiers in Scientific Legal Text: Meaning, Motivation, Pragmatic Load

Abstract

The goal of our research is to clarify from the linguistic point of view the constructive role that modality plays in the process of constructing a fact within the framework of the judgment of the author of a scientific legal text. In particular, the scope of our research attention is the problem of the author’s generation of a linguistically motivated judgment semantic content, from which the addressee extracts new knowledge that predetermines the relevance of the text. This knowledge, in turn, complements the conceptual model of ideas about a particular aspect of the scientific and legal picture of the world that have developed so far in the relevant professional community. In the course of the publication of new knowledge, the research lawyer is called upon to substantiate his judgments, focusing the addressee’s attention on the effectiveness of the results achieved and the truth of the conclusions made. The reasoning of the judgments is also based on the author’s intention to argue that the research he conducted organically fits into the model of fundamental knowledge that is found in the scientific and legal community at the present time.

Keywords

• scientific and legal text
• judgment
• propositional content
• epistemic modifiers
• source of information