reasonable person
Someone with judgment
A reasonable person is a hypothetical individual who exercises average care, skill, and judgment—the standard against which conduct is measured in legal contexts.
Courts ask what a reasonable person would have done: A reasonable person would have checked before backing up.
The concept sets an objective benchmark, judging actions not by what someone actually thought, but by what an ordinary, prudent person would think under the same circumstances.
Failure to exercise care
- tortActionable civil harm
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- duty of careObligation to act reasonably
- foreseeabilityCapacity to be anticipated
standard of care · legal fiction · jurisprudence · judicial · testimony · evidence · deliberation · jury
Science of valid reasoning
- critical thinkingObjective evaluation of information
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- intellectMental reasoning capacity
- wisdomGood judgment from experience
comprehension · understanding · intelligence · coherence · clarity · insight · sound judgment · analytical
Standard for comparison
- normAccepted behavioral standard
- ordinaryStandard, unremarkable
- typicalRepresentative of a kind
- expectedRegarded as likely
conventional · sensible · moderate · average · customary · mainstream · normative · baseline
Keen perception and judgment
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- considerationCareful thought or compensation
analysis · interpretation · appraisal · determination · inference · judiciousness · perspective · decision
Showing no preference
- unbiasedFree from prejudice
- dispassionateFree from emotional involvement
- evenhandedFair to all parties
- nonpartisanNot aligned politically
open-minded · disinterested · fair-minded · unprejudiced · detached · neutral · balanced · level-headed
negligence
Failure to exercise care
- tortActionable civil harm
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- duty of careObligation to act reasonably
foreseeability · standard of care · legal fiction · jurisprudence · judicial · testimony · evidence · deliberation · jury · cross-examination
logic
Science of valid reasoning
- critical thinkingObjective evaluation of information
- cognitionMental knowledge acquisition
- intellectMental reasoning capacity
wisdom · comprehension · understanding · intelligence · coherence · clarity · insight · sound judgment · analytical · thoughtful
benchmark
Standard for comparison
expected · conventional · sensible · moderate · average · customary · mainstream · normative · baseline · yardstick
discernment
Keen perception and judgment
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
consideration · analysis · interpretation · appraisal · determination · inference · judiciousness · perspective · decision · conclusion
impartial
Showing no preference
- unbiasedFree from prejudice
- dispassionateFree from emotional involvement
- evenhandedFair to all parties
nonpartisan · open-minded · disinterested · fair-minded · unprejudiced · detached · neutral · balanced · level-headed · rational
- tort lawtort, tort law, negligence, duty of care, breach of duty
- tortstort, negligence, tortfeasor, torts, tort law
- negligence lawduty of care, standard of care, breach of duty, causation, foreseeability
- legal causationcausal chain, direct cause, sine qua non, indirect cause, causal link
- legal proofburden of proof, standard of proof, clear and convincing, onus, preponderance
- dangerhazard, peril, risk, threat, menace
reasonable personmadman
Dangerously unstable person
lunatic · fool · crackpot · crank · scatterbrain
reasonable personhothead
Impetuous, easily angered person
loose cannon · wild card · bull in a china shop · berserker · maniac
reasonable, person, reason, reasons, reasoned, reasoning, reasonably, unreasonable, unreasonably