The term judgment (AE)^[1] or judgement (BE) generally refers to the considered evaluation of evidence in the formation of making a decision. The term has three distinct uses:

• Informal and psychology – used in reference to the quality of cognitive faculties and adjudicational capabilities of particular individuals, typically called wisdom or discernment.
• Legal – used in the context of legal trial, to refer to a final finding, statement, or ruling, based on a considered weighing of evidence, called "adjudication".
• Religious – used in the concept of salvation to refer to the adjudication of God in determining reward or punishment for each and all human beings.

[edit] Background

In formulating cognitive judgements, a formal process of evaluation applies. A judgment may be expressed as a statement, e.g. S1: "A is B" and is usually the outcome of an evaluation of alternatives. The formal process of evaluation can sometimes be described as a set of conditions and criteria that must be satisfied in order for a judgement to be made. What follows is a suggestive list of some conditions that are commonly required:

• there must be corroborating evidence for S1,
• there must be no true contradicting statements,
• if there are contradicting statements, these must be outweighed by the corroborating evidence for S1, or
• contradicting statements must themselves have no corroborating evidence
• S1 must also corroborate and be corroborated by the system of statements which are accepted as true.

[edit] See also

Thinking portal

• Choice
• Decree

[edit] References

1. ^ Cambridge Dictionary
   AskOxford.com
   LDOCEonline

[edit] External links

• Judgment or Judgement? - Choices in terminological spelling and usage