Conclusion

Summary

The Conclusion argues that the reasonable person possesses an essence that can be traced across time and across the different jurisdictions we encountered. This essence concerns the concept’s fundamental acceptance that ours is always just one perspective among many and that the best way to understand and assess what others think, do and feel is to empathise with those others. Since the standard is not always understood or applied in this manner, the Conclusion offers a restatement of the function and rationale of the common law’s most illustrious character; the aim is to contribute to the realisation of the concept’s potential and to make it easier to identify instances of misuse. The section unfolds in three parts, which correspond to the three steps of judgement making through empathetic perspective taking: the intention to take the reasonable person’s perspective; the assumption of the reasonable person’s perspective; and the making of a judgement by reference to the reasonable person’s perspective. Ultimately the Conclusion argues that the concept of the reasonable person has significant potential to facilitate the making of tolerant and humane judgements in a diverse, globalised and dynamic society, provided that one remembers that the reasonable person is always someone else.