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No, it isn’t. The “reasonable person” standard in lots of laws exists exactly because we can agree on it as an objective standard.
by egdod 7y ago
No, it isn’t. The “reasonable person” standard in lots of laws exists exactly because we can agree on it as an objective standard.
- ben509 7y agoWe don't agree what it actually is, though. In practice, the "reasonable person" standard is achieved by asking a jury. In a jury, the members apply their life experiences to the case they're deciding and then persuade each other to reach a unanimous conclusion. That's an entirely subjective process, and if you repeat it with another jury you can get the polar opposite answer.
- egdod 7y agoJuries might disagree about what a reasonable person would do in a given situation. But that was just a digression. I think that almost all juries could agree on some subset of behaviors being labeled as “horrible.”