Can a person's opinion ever justify anything?

[LOVEthroughINTELLECT]

Imagine a conversation like this:

Person A: "Nicole Brown Simpson got what she deserved".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".

Or one like this:

Person A: "If O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson, it was justified".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".


The two statements by Person A are Person A's opinion. Person B asserts that the statements justify something--something that he/she does not think is/was justified.

To me, all of this begs a question: Can a person's opinion justify anything?

Maybe it is just me, but it makes no sense to me to say that somebody's opinon justifies anything. It's just his/her opinion! Since when did anybody have the authority, power or ability to justify anything by stating his/her opinion?

 

[Fin1234]

To say someone deserved something, is to say that the action or event was an ethically "good" or neutral act.

 

[matthewgar]

Imagine a conversation like this:

Person A: "Nicole Brown Simpson got what she deserved".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".

Or one like this:

Person A: "If O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson, it was justified".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".


The two statements by Person A are Person A's opinion. Person B asserts that the statements justify something--something that he/she does not think is/was justified.

To me, all of this begs a question: Can a person's opinion justify anything?

Maybe it is just me, but it makes no sense to me to say that somebody's opinon justifies anything. It's just his/her opinion! Since when did anybody have the authority, power or ability to justify anything by stating his/her opinion?

Well don't even have to go quiet that far, people like to claim X justifies Y or can be used to do so to base wether something is true or not. A odd example was the big fight on youtube a few months ago I witnessed where someone was discussing wether rape has a evolutionary advantage, *not wether it was good or not* just is it advantage for some animals and such, and it devolved into a argument not on facts, but wether or not saying it could be part of nature or natural selection was justiifying rape.

Another way of looking at it is, in nature there is a advantae of killing off the offspring of another male, particular in social species like lions and such, but in no way justifies or claims justification in humans.

I don't think anything can justify an action, the action is either good, bad, or neutral, you can try to justify it to yourself, and maybe try to convince someone else, but the ultimate truth of it is independant of opinions.

 

[Dark_Lite]

Imagine a conversation like this:

Person A: "Nicole Brown Simpson got what she deserved".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".

Or one like this:

Person A: "If O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson, it was justified".

Person B: "Your statement is highly offensive! It justifies murder!".


The two statements by Person A are Person A's opinion. Person B asserts that the statements justify something--something that he/she does not think is/was justified.

To me, all of this begs a question: Can a person's opinion justify anything?

Maybe it is just me, but it makes no sense to me to say that somebody's opinon justifies anything. It's just his/her opinion! Since when did anybody have the authority, power or ability to justify anything by stating his/her opinion?

Of course an opinion can justify something. Whether or not it's a valid justification is another issue.

 

[daniel777]

what are your opinions on the meaning of "opinion"?

 

[Skaloop]

Sure it can. It is my opinion that borscht tastes disgusting; I am therefore justified in not ordering it off of the menu at a restaurant.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Yes, opinion can justify anything that requires a deciding opinion (juries, parliament, etc), or that only changes on opinion (subjective preference, etc). Sometimes one's opinion must be strictly dictated by the evidence, as is the case with good legal systems and with science, but it's an opinion nonetheless.