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The statement “Simon Peyton Jones does not have a PhD, bestowed following submission and defense of a dissertation” is True. However, the qualitative statement

The statement “Simon Peyton Jones does not have a PhD, bestowed following submission and defense of a dissertation” is True. However, the qualitative statement the parent comment gives is, roughly: “Simon Peyton Jones has an honorary PhD, which is not a ‘real’ PhD, and therefore should not be referred to casually by the prefix doctor.” This statement is not True in the same sense as the first. There is an explicit qualifier for what the parent considers a ‘real PhD. It may be generally correct, hell it may be completely conventional, to not coded the title of doctor upon someone who did not defend a dissertation, but these are fundamentally conditional statements. For what it’s worth, I have seems more than 2 dozen talks by Jones and read a vast amount of his written interviews. I have never seen him refer to himself as ‘doctor.’ If fact, I can recall at least one discussion by him about why he did not do a dissertation and that he still thinks it was the right path for himself (although I can not find the reference).

crimsonalucard 7y ago
>However, the qualitative statement the parent comment gives is, roughly: “Simon Peyton Jones has an honorary PhD, which is not a ‘real’ PhD, and therefore should not be referred to casually by the prefix doctor.” This statement is not True in the same sense as the first. No. This is just your qualitative opinion. To refer to someone as Doctor in our culture and our society means they have a MD or a PHD. It's that simple. Institutions who give out Honorary degrees usually ask the recipient to Not refer to themselves as Dr. See source: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Honorary_degree https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Honorary_degree Even though my comment is true with a cited source, you will see that it could get voted down because people don't like it, thereby proving my point that people vote for what they like not for what is true.
- buckminster 7y ago
  > Institutions who give out Honorary degrees usually ask the recipient to Not refer to themselves as Dr. See source: Emphasis mine. You admit yourself that this is not an absolute standard. Further, this request is directed towards celebrity recipients who receive their degree for PR purposes. Which is not the case with Peyton Jones.
  - crimsonalucard 7y ago
    The word "usually" is in favor to my point. The word is used because it is not a law or a rule. I admit myself it is not an absolute standard. Even someone without a PHD or an honorary degree can call himself a Dr. there are no absolute standards here. Peyton himself doesn't refer to himself as a doctor. So what does that tell you about his own view on the matter? Perhaps he was asked by the university not to call himself a Dr.
    - Twisol 7y ago
      > So what does that tell you about his own view on the matter? That he is a humble person. This jibes with all anecdata I've ever heard about his character. Occam's Razor and all that. Many people who have a Ph.D. prefer not to refer to themselves, or be referred to by others, as Dr.
      - crimsonalucard 7y ago
        Sure that is valid view. It would be incredibly biased to vote me down and discount the other supporting evidence that points to the fact it also conveys the possibility that he and others don't see him as a doctor.

crimsonalucard 7y ago

>However, the qualitative statement the parent comment gives is, roughly: “Simon Peyton Jones has an honorary PhD, which is not a ‘real’ PhD, and therefore should not be referred to casually by the prefix doctor.” This statement is not True in the same sense as the first. No. This is just your qualitative opinion. To refer to someone as Doctor in our culture and our society means they have a MD or a PHD. It's that simple. Institutions who give out Honorary degrees usually ask the recipient to Not refer to themselves as Dr. See source: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Honorary_degree https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Honorary_degree Even though my comment is true with a cited source, you will see that it could get voted down because people don't like it, thereby proving my point that people vote for what they like not for what is true.

buckminster 7y ago
> Institutions who give out Honorary degrees usually ask the recipient to Not refer to themselves as Dr. See source: Emphasis mine. You admit yourself that this is not an absolute standard. Further, this request is directed towards celebrity recipients who receive their degree for PR purposes. Which is not the case with Peyton Jones.
- crimsonalucard 7y ago
  The word "usually" is in favor to my point. The word is used because it is not a law or a rule. I admit myself it is not an absolute standard. Even someone without a PHD or an honorary degree can call himself a Dr. there are no absolute standards here. Peyton himself doesn't refer to himself as a doctor. So what does that tell you about his own view on the matter? Perhaps he was asked by the university not to call himself a Dr.
  - Twisol 7y ago
    > So what does that tell you about his own view on the matter? That he is a humble person. This jibes with all anecdata I've ever heard about his character. Occam's Razor and all that. Many people who have a Ph.D. prefer not to refer to themselves, or be referred to by others, as Dr.
    - crimsonalucard 7y ago
      Sure that is valid view. It would be incredibly biased to vote me down and discount the other supporting evidence that points to the fact it also conveys the possibility that he and others don't see him as a doctor.