>>> I guess by your reasoning, then yes, he is implying that, otherwise the implication is always true and there's no logic to assuming a false P.
There are two separate questions being asked here:
1. Is P true?
2. If P is true, does Q follow?
The jury is assessing question (2) while the judge will later assess question (1). Question (2) is a question of guilt (if this were the law, did Google violate it?) and question (1) is a question of law (is this actually the law?).
To answer (2), the jury must assume P then evaluate the consequence on Q; that is simply the manner of establishing the validity of a material implication. As you note, if the jury did not assume P, then they would have nothing to do. However, that the judge instructed the jury as such does not indicate any bias on his part; he was simply providing instructions to simplify the procedure of logical reasoning to a group of 12 laypeople. I'm assuming that most of them aren't trained mathematicians, logicians, lawyers, or philosophers.
To put it succintly: the answer to your original question is "No."
There are two separate questions being asked here:
The jury is assessing question (2) while the judge will later assess question (1). Question (2) is a question of guilt (if this were the law, did Google violate it?) and question (1) is a question of law (is this actually the law?).To answer (2), the jury must assume P then evaluate the consequence on Q; that is simply the manner of establishing the validity of a material implication. As you note, if the jury did not assume P, then they would have nothing to do. However, that the judge instructed the jury as such does not indicate any bias on his part; he was simply providing instructions to simplify the procedure of logical reasoning to a group of 12 laypeople. I'm assuming that most of them aren't trained mathematicians, logicians, lawyers, or philosophers.
To put it succintly: the answer to your original question is "No."