Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of evidence in the making of a decision. The term has four distinct uses:
- Informal - Opinions expressed as facts.
- Informal and psychological – 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". See spelling note for further explanation.
- Religious – used in the concept of salvation to refer to the adjudication of God in determining Heaven or Hell for each and all human beings.
Famous quotes containing the word judgment:
“The order of the world is always right—such is the judgment of God. For God has departed, but he has left his judgment behind, the way the Cheshire Cat left his grin.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once,
And He that might the vantage best have took
Found out the remedy. How would you be
If He which is the top of judgment should
But judge you as you are? O, think on that,
And mercy then will breathe within your lips,
Like man new made.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)