Mistaking Judgement For Appreciation

Martin and Rose (2007: 38):

We can summarise the positive and negative appreciations we’ve examined so far in Table 2.4.

Table 2.4 Examples of appreciation

positive

a beautiful relationship
a very serious issue
healing of breaches
redressing of imbalances
restoration of broken relationships

negative

my unsuccessful marriage
a frivolous question
broken relationships
the community he or she has injured

Blogger Comments:

This discussion summarised here largely mistakes judgement for appreciation. According to the foundational work on the appraisal system of attitude:

APPRECIATION is concerned with the evaluation of objects and products (rather than human behaviour) by reference to aesthetic principles and other systems of social value. It encompasses values which fall under the general heading of aesthetics, as well as a non-aesthetic category of 'social valuation' which includes meanings such as significant and harmful.

whereas

JUDGEMENT is concerned with the evaluation of human behaviour with respect to social norms. Thus, under JUDGEMENT we may assess behaviour as moral or immoral, as legal or illegal, as socially acceptable or unacceptable, as laudable or deplorable, as normal or abnormal and so on…

In this context, healing, redressing and restoration are positive judgements ('laudable') of human behaviour, and as such, are not instances of appreciation.

Similarly, he or she has injured is a negative judgement ('immoral') of human behaviour, and as such, is not an instance of appreciation.

And to appraise a marriage as unsuccessful is to evaluate it as a failure of achievement, and as such, as a judgement of human behaviour, and not as an instance of appreciation.