GenericMind
Bluelighter
toa$t said:from wikipedia:
The reasonable person standard is often used legal term that originated in the development of the common law. The "reasonable person" is a legal fiction which represents a reasoned outlook on a legal question. The perspective of the reasonable man is intentionally distinct from that of an "average" person; contrary to popular misconception, the reasonable man is not necessarily average. The question of how a reasonable person might act, or what judgments they might make under the circumstances performs a critical role in legal reasoning in areas such as negligence, contract law, and criminal law. For example, the crime of sexual harassment is deemed to have occurred in some legal jurisdictions when the conduct is unwelcome and when a reasonable person would have considered such conduct sexual.
actually, reasonability is best defined according to an objective standard which ties in closely with rationality, also an objective concept. I would be happy to provide more reputable sources if necessary but I don't have access to them right now. reasonability actually has nothing to do with the majority opinion, and that is certainly not the way it has been defined for "thousands of years." I've read your posts (GenericMind), and you seem pretty smart. I think you should be able to see a difference between reasonability and the opinion of the majority
this is really a different way of making the same point. what makes it taboo is that the majority haven't come to accept it. but the majority doesn't really have anything to do with what is reasonable.
The majority : Me
I don't need Wikipedia to tell me that.