Opinion is a held judgment about a proposition, situation, or course of action, formed without absolute certainty and subject to revision. Parameters: (1) a propositional content that the agent affirms; (2) a degree of confidence less than certainty; (3) formation through reasoning, evidence, testimony, or heuristics. Persistence: sustained through language and social reinforcement; revised when confronted with new evidence or arguments; institutionalized in practices like polling, deliberation, and legal reasoning. [formal: opinio | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: no | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
opinion
Opinion is a held judgment about a proposition, situation, or course of action, formed without absolute certainty and subject to revision. Parameters: (1) a propositional content that the agent affirms; (2) a degree of confidence less than…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A held judgment or belief about a proposition, situation, or course of action. Human-made: opinion is a constructed category used in psychology, law, philosophy, and everyday reasoning to represent the mental state of affirming something as true or preferable without absolute certainty. It persists through language, social discourse, and institutional practices like polling, deliberation, and jury deliberation.
Names and aliases
- opinionen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrc6dopv00jba9g4op1ivbb1SERVES →
opinion is built and maintained for the sake of communication — its designed purpose is to express stances, persuade, and participate in discourse. The opinion (servant) points at communication (master).
- cmreni1le00twg8vusqrsdf83INSTANCE_OF →
An opinion IS a kind of belief. It is a belief held with explicit acknowledgment of uncertainty — the holder recognizes it could be wrong. Law 9: a competent speaker would call an opinion 'a belief' (specifically, a tentative one). Nearest kind: belief, not judgment (which requires reasoning) or view (which is more subjective).
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 30, 2026, 3:58 PM UTC
- Content hash
- d239fa6576a609c2491f3d66d22e6d597d497797e3eb9c4c96062dfc07c48ce9