[EM] "Preference" can mean anything?

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

I'd said:

>Markus, referring to the above, and also to your subsequently
>posted criteria: You said that you don't like criteria that
>mention voters' preferences, and that you only like criteria
>that only mention voted ballots.

Markus replied:

My criteria refer to a set of preferences without asking where
this set of preferences comes from.

I reply:

I didn't say anything about where the preferences came from either. I merely 
pointed out that they are preferences. So you can't write those criteria in 
terms of votes? But only in terms of preferences?

If, by "preference for outcome X over outcome Y", you mean an opinion that X 
would be a more desirable outcome than Y would, then you're using, in your 
definitions, something that you've said you don't like in definitions

Or have you changed the meaning of "preference" so that now, to you, 
"preference" means "voted pairwise comparison"?

Here's how I define "voted pairwise comparion":

For a particular voter, and for some pair of candidates X & Y, there are 3 
ways of voting with respect to X & Y : s/he can vote X over Y, s/he can vote 
Y over X, or s/he can do neither. Those 3 ways of voting with respect to X & 
Y are, by this definition, the 3 "voted pairwise comparions" that s/he can 
make with respect to X & Y.

[end of definition of voted pairwise comparisons]

Is that what you're trying to say when you say "preference"? The thing is,  
you haven't defined "preference". But you're using "preference" as if it 
means voted pairwise comparison. Is that what you want "preference" to mean? 
Or do you not want to say what you mean by "preference"?

If your answer is that that isn't what you mean by "preference", then what 
do you mean by "preference"?

If your answer is that that is what you mean by "preference", then is there 
some reason why you can't say it in terms of votes instead of preferences? 
Is there some reason why you need to use "preference" to mean something 
entirely different from its usual accepted meaning? Do you want to talk 
about why you need to?
.
Mike Ossipoff

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