Timeline for Can an "opinion" be right or wrong?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 2019 at 21:19 | comment | added | jsw29 | @chaslyfromUK, the word opinion has more than one sense; in one of its senses, it is synonymous with belief. | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:51 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @chaslyfromUK - You are creating a clever (though useless) division between the act of stating and the thing stated. If I say "One plus one is three", the fact that I said that is (in this hypothetical universe) true. That does not make the statement true. You are conflating the act of expressing an opinion/belief with the content of the opinion/belief itself. | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:30 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | @Hot Licks - "And aren't you creating a rabbit hole where the argument as to whether something is an opinion or a belief can completely snarl any discussion as to whether it's true or false?" Exactly. That's what this whole discussion is about. Some things can be tested, others (the opinions) are by nature snarled up and can't be verified or denied. | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:27 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | @Hot Licks - And you believe in time-machines? (your second comment) | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:26 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @chaslyfromUK - And you believe in lie-detector tests?? | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:25 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | @Hot Licks - Of course. I say "I believe in God". You make me undergo a lie-detector test and find out that I was lying and actually I don't believe in God. Tested! | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:02 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @chaslyfromUK - And is a belief in God testable? | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 1:01 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @chaslyfromUK - So that guy doesn't believe that chocolate tastes bad? And aren't you creating a rabbit hole where the argument as to whether something is an opinion or a belief can completely snarl any discussion as to whether it's true or false? (And bear in mind that SOME chocolate contains cheese (or the other way around).) | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 0:53 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | Opinion: "Chocolate tastes bad". Belief: "Chocolate is made of cheese." - The former is subjective, the latter is testable. | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 0:45 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @chaslyfromUK - But aren't "opinion" and "belief" synonyms, for the current discussion? How do they differ? | |
| Apr 23, 2019 at 0:42 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | This answer is incorrect. If you say "I believe that this box contains a potato", that is not an opinion about either boxes or potatoes. It is a statement about your state of belief. Maybe you do believe that or maybe you are lying and you believe something completely different. Not easily verifiable (except perhaps by a futuristic brain-scan) but still a statement of fact rather than opinion. | |
| Apr 22, 2019 at 23:07 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @Toothrot - Easily tested: Time travel back to his 30th birthday and observe! | |
| Apr 22, 2019 at 23:05 | comment | added | Toothrot | say i opine that Socrates did not have a tooth removed on his 30th birthday; this is not a testable proposition, but it is either true or false | |
| Apr 22, 2019 at 23:00 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @Toothrot - Give an example. | |
| Apr 22, 2019 at 22:59 | comment | added | Toothrot | testability is irrelevant: something can be right or wrong without being testable | |
| Oct 23, 2015 at 0:21 | history | answered | Hot Licks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
