Speakers offer testimony. They also hedge. This essay offers an account of how hedging makes a difference to testimony. Two components of testimony are considered: how testimony warrants a hearer's attitude, and how testimony changes a speaker's responsibilities. Starting with a norm-based approach to testimony where hearer's beliefs are prima facie warranted because of social norms and speakers acquire responsibility from these same norms, I argue that hedging alters both components simultaneously. It changes which attitudes a hearer is prima facie warranted in forming in response to testimony, and reduces how much responsibility a speaker undertakes in testifying. A consequence of this account is that speakers who hedge merely for strategic purposes deprive their hearers of warrant for stronger doxastic attitudes.

中文翻译：

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对冲证词

演讲者提供证词。他们也对冲。这篇文章介绍了对冲如何影响证词。考量了证词的两个组成部分：证词如何保证听者的态度，以及证词如何改变说话者的责任。从基于规范的证词方法开始，在这种方法中，听者的信念由于社会规范而表面上得到保证，并且说话者从这些相同的规范中获得责任，我认为对冲同时改变了这两个组成部分。它改变了听者在回应证言时形成的初步证据，并减少了说话者在作证时承担的责任。这种解释的结果是，仅仅出于战略目的进行对冲的演讲者剥夺了他们的听众对更强烈的信念态度的保证。