Judgment involves understanding and acknowledging how two or more ideas may be alike or how they may be different. We judge that ideas are something and that they are not something else.
How to make judgments.
Understanding that a circle is round requires judgment. First, we see an object called a “circle.” Then we think of the idea of “roundness.” We think of the qualities that make a thing a circle and of the qualities that make a thing round. Philosophers call this process abstracting. After abstracting, we have an idea of what a circle is and what roundness is. We can now judge whether these ideas agree or disagree with each other. We realize that the ideas of “roundness” and “circle” are similar. We have made the judgment that “a circle is round.”
Kinds of judgment.
The statement “circles are round” cannot be contradicted. Philosophers call such statements necessary judgments. But the truth of the statement “food satisfies hunger” depends on other facts. A person eating the food could be ill and unable to digest it. Philosophers use the term contingent judgment for a judgment that can be contradicted.
One kind of judgment is called belief. Belief is based on what experienced persons tell us or on events that are not easily proved. Opinions and doubts are similar to beliefs. An opinion is a weak form of belief. When we have an opinion about something, we usually wait for more facts before making a firm judgment. When we are in doubt, we delay making a final judgment because the facts or authorities contradict one another.
Making good judgments requires ability, experience, training, and wisdom. Poor judgments result from faulty reasoning, lack of facts, or prejudices.
See also Logic.
