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Reasonable Person Principle

cs.cmu.edu

91–100 of 120 posts

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#91

CMU had me arrested and held in jail for a week though I had paid my bail because I complained too much about not being able to find an job opportunities with a CS degree. Everyone just says to go to the career center. Career center says they have nothing for me. Couldn't find anyone in the entire University who would act reasonably to anything that didn't benefit them directly.

I feel like you must be leaving part of the story out - you don't get arrested for complaining...

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#92

Its sounds more like the definition of a prosocial person, not reasonable. I think there needs to be something in there about, say, enlightened self-interest as it relates to the community, rather than simply asserting that reasonable people think about the common good. In the economic sense, a common approach is to model reasonable people as trying to maximize their gain or utility, without much regard to the common…

Sure... And Ayn Rand will therefore tell you let that child drown if it isn't yours, you don't expect a reward, and rescuing it may get your shoes wet.

Which is why "the economic sense" must not be applied unreasonably.

There could be a better term maybe. "Average" may actually work, or "well-adjusted". Maybe even "what would Benjamin Franklin Pierce (gen 50+) / Ted Mosby (others) do"

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#93

CMU had me arrested and held in jail for a week though I had paid my bail because I complained too much about not being able to find an job opportunities with a CS degree. Everyone just says to go to the career center. Career center says they have nothing for me. Couldn't find anyone in the entire University who would act reasonably to anything that didn't benefit them directly.

I feel like you must be leaving part of the story out - you don't get arrested for complaining...

They frequently have students and alumni arrested. The message is clear: keep your mouth shut.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#94

'Reasonable' doesn't mean relaxed or even nice. It means being guided by reason, ie the application of logic to available evidence. Socrates was a reasonable person, and his insistence on being so made him a lot of enemies. It might be worthwhile to define this up front; this worthy advice seems to rest on an implicit understanding of 'reasonable' as meaning 'considerate' or 'not rocking the boat.'

The dictionary I just consulted lists your definition as "archaic". "Reasonable" means (to a reasonable observer) a lot more than the ability to think logically:

- having sound judgement; fair and sensible: no reasonable person could have objected.

- based on good sense: it seems a reasonable enough request | the guilt of a person on trial must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

- archaic: able to reason logically: man is by nature reasonable.

2: as much as is appropriate or fair; moderate: a police officer may use reasonable force to gain entry.

Thesaurus: sensible, rational, open to reason, full of common sense, logical, fair, fair-minded, just, equitable, decent; intelligent, wise, level-headed, practical, realistic; based on good sense, sound, judicious, well thought out, well grounded, reasoned, well reasoned, valid, commonsensical, advisable, well advised; tenable, plausible, feasible, credible, acceptable, admissible, believable

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#95

How is 'reasonable' different from 'rational'? And don't both these terms beg the question of ultimate ends and/or values?

Check the dictionary: "Reasonable" has much broader meaning overlapping concepts such as "fair", "decent", "predictable".

It may also become more obvious from this other use of the word: "You may use reasonable force to defend your property". A "rational" force doesn't make much sense.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like you must be leaving part of the story out - you don't get arrested for complaining...

They frequently have students and alumni arrested. The message is clear: keep your mouth shut.

No offense, but I don't believe you. Do you have some evidence?

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say you just exemplified the problem. While you view the election as proof of unreasonableness of half the voters, I see your outright dismissal as a clear inability to see an opposing view and hence unreasonable.

Maybe he didn't dismiss them outright. Maybe he looked at things from their perspective first, analyzed their beliefs and arguments and concluded that they did not make their decision based on facts[1] and rationality. [1]Unless you count "alternative facts" of course, in which case their viewpoint is just as valid as yours!

[deleted]

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#98

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." -- George Bernard Shaw

This is a fun quote, I've always liked it. But I'm not exactly sure how it fits here. The OP seems to be an etiquette guide for an academic department.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#99

Something I'm slowly coming to realize is that unless you have a logically defensible moral position, it's hard to argue with people that disagree. Terms like reasonable are so flimsy it's hard to use it as a model to communicate with people that don't already agree with you. The successful operation of a principle like "reasonableness" requires an intake filter to suss out whether people joining the department rough…

Even a logically defensible moral argument is only sound given some specific premises, which may not be universally shared.

Re: Reasonable Person Principle

#100

Its sounds more like the definition of a prosocial person, not reasonable. I think there needs to be something in there about, say, enlightened self-interest as it relates to the community, rather than simply asserting that reasonable people think about the common good. In the economic sense, a common approach is to model reasonable people as trying to maximize their gain or utility, without much regard to the common…

Sure... And Ayn Rand will therefore tell you let that child drown if it isn't yours, you don't expect a reward, and rescuing it may get your shoes wet. Which is why "the economic sense" must not be applied unreasonably . There could be a better term maybe. "Average" may actually work, or "well-adjusted". Maybe even "what would Benjamin Franklin Pierce (gen 50+) / Ted Mosby (others) do"

Would Ayn Rand really tell you that, or are you just making a caricature of her beliefs?

If you are just making a caricature of her beliefs, is that what a reasonable person would do?

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