Testimony

Testimony is information or purported knowledge conveyed through another person's reports or assertions. It is a central source of belief because most facts people know are learned from others.

Testimonial knowledge: Knowledge acquired through another person's report or assertion. Names the epistemic status testimony can confer when a report is trustworthy.
Assertion: A speech act in which a speaker presents a proposition as true. Assertions are a common form of testimony, though reports can convey information without them.
Witness: A person who reports observations or knowledge about an event. Witnesses provide first-person reports that may become testimony in court or inquiry.
Perception: The process by which sensory information is organized into experience of the environment. Perception offers a first-person source of belief, unlike knowledge received through another's report.
Credibility: The quality of being believable or worthy of trust. A hearer's assessment of a speaker's credibility helps determine whether to accept a report.
Speaker: A person who produces an utterance or communicates a message. The speaker supplies the report whose sincerity and competence may be assessed.
Expert testimony: Evidence presented by a qualified specialist to explain matters within their expertise. Specialized reports let courts consider facts they cannot assess through ordinary experience.
Memory: The capacity to retain and later retrieve information or experience. Memory preserves one's own past observations, whereas testimony depends on another person's report.
Trust: Reliance on another person or system despite incomplete control or certainty. Accepting testimony often depends on interpersonal trust, not evidence independently checked.
Hearer: A person who receives and interprets a spoken or communicated message. The hearer forms beliefs by interpreting and evaluating another person's report.

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