reasonable persons
Average careful community members
Reasonable persons is a legal standard referring to hypothetical individuals who exercise ordinary care, judgment, and prudence.
Courts use this fiction to measure whether conduct meets acceptable standards: Would reasonable persons have foreseen the danger?
The plural form appears in jury instructions and legal documents, though "reasonable person" is more common in general discussion.
- sensibleShowing good judgment
- rationalGoverned by logic
- judiciousHaving sound assessment skills
- foreseeabilityCapacity to be anticipated
- logicalBased on valid reasoning
prudent · sound judgment · fair-minded · open mind · decision-making · judgments · deliberation · levelheaded · cool head · commonsensical · common sense · proportionality · duty of care · negotiation · fairness · objective · level playing field · jurisprudence
reasonable personsfools
Idiots or deceives
madmen · idiots · lunatics · simpletons · crackpots
reasonable personshotheads
Impetuous, easily angered people
loose cannons · extremists · firebrands · wild cards · hysterics
reasonable personsdogmatists
Believers in fixed principles
bigots · hardliners · ideologues · absolutists · tyrants
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