OPINION

An 'opinion' is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgment or evaluation of something. An opinion is not a ''fact'', because opinions are either not falsifiable, or the opinion has not been proven or verified. If it later ''becomes'' proven or verified, it is no longer an opinion, but a fact.
In economics, philosophy, or other social sciences, analysis based on opinions is referred to as normative analysis (what ''ought'' to be), as opposed to positive analysis, which is based on scientific observation (what materially ''is''). In mathematics and logic there can be no opinions about some claims, equations, and arguments, because often these kinds of statements are either valid or invalid, and true or false, and not open to contradicting opinions.
Historically, the distinction of proven knowledge and opinion was articulated by some Ancient Greek philosophers. Plato's analogy of the divided line is a well-known illustration of the distinction between knowledge and opinion.
Robert Webb, half of the Mitchell and Webb comedy duo, identified the phenomenon of 'idle opinion'. Mitchell and Webb had come in for considerable criticism in the UK for their Apple Mac commercials, which contrasted the Mac with the PC. Webb noted that the vast bulk of the criticism happened during office hours, when people should have been doing their jobs. After 5pm each day, the criticism in blogs and Web chatrooms dried up. His conclusion is that 'idle opinion' consists of views that people don't hold strongly, or indeed that they may not hold the view at all. 'Critics' just want to be part of a discussion, rather than do their daily grind.

Contents

In judicial practice

Case law

Memorandum opinion

Tort law

See also

In judicial practice

Case law

In law, an 'opinion' is either:

★ a written explanation by judges that accompanies their ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles that lead them to rule as they did. Opinions are usually published at the direction of the court, and to the extent they contain pronouncements about what the law is and how it should be interpreted, they reinforce, change, establish, or overturn legal precedent. See case law.

★ a formal written statement prepared by an attorney for a client, stating the lawyer's reasoned belief about what the law is, how a court would interpret it, or how it applies to specific circumstances posed by the client.

Memorandum opinion

Not every case decided by a higher court results in the publication of an opinion; in fact most do not, since an opinion is usually only published when the law is being interpreted in a novel way, or the case is a high-profile matter of general public interest and the court wishes to make the details of its ruling public. In the majority of cases, the judges issue what is called a ''memorandum decision'' instead, which simply points out how state or federal law applies to the case and affirms or reverses the decision of the lower court. A memorandum opinion does not establish legal precedent or re-interpret the law, and cannot be invoked in subsequent cases to justify a ruling. Opinions, on the other hand, ''always'' establish a particular legal interpretation.

Tort law

The term 'opinion' comes up in tort law, specifically defamation / libel law, and separates statements into three classes:
# statements of opinion or pure opinion (not actionable)
# mixed statements of opinion and fact (actionable)
# statements of fact (actionable)
In order to win damages in a libel case, the plaintiff must show that the statements were first "statements of fact or mixed statements of opinion and fact" and second that these statements were false. Conversely, typical defenses to libel are that the statements made are opinion or that the statements (if factual) are true. One of the major tests to distinguish whether a statement is fact or opinion is whether the statement can be proved true or false in a court of law. If the statement can be proved true or false, then, on that basis, the case will be heard by a jury to determine whether it is true or false. If the statement can not be proved true or false, the court may dismiss the libel case without it ever going to a jury to find facts in the case.

See also

★ Egocentrism

★ Philosophy

★ Politics

★ Appellate court