I looked in Aristotle's Rhetoric, and found nothing about deathbed
declarations specifically. However, in Book 1, sec. 13, he divides witnesses
(in a court proceeding) into ancient and current, and subdivides the latter
category into those who are vulnerable to a perjury proceeding and those who
aren't. On a completely different tack, the Cathars commonly had deathbed or
near-deathbed conversions.
Dale Hample
[log in to unmask] wrote:
> Does anyone know how or when the belief arose that deathbed statements or
> confessions are true? Is there any authority for the idea or is it just a
> folk-belief?
>
> pat sloane
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