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I am wondering which sentence is the correct one here:
1- One cannot judge someone on the basis of hearsay and what others say.
2- One cannot judge someone based on hearsay and what others say.
I have reviewed the similar thread, but as you can see there, there are two absolutely different answers! One person has mentioned that they mean the same, and the other one has tried to distinguish them.
Please kindly let me know about it. Thank you.
They mean exactly the same thing in this usage; "on the basis of" is the logical equivalent of "based on". The only correction I'd suggest, without knowing the context of this passage, is to opt for should over cannot, because people can judge others on any basis:
One should not judge another on the basis of hearsay and what others say.
But this statement is a bit suspect to me because, while I understand hearsay, are you really suggesting not to judge anyone on what anyone says, even if it's confirmed? If so, then let's get really bold and say what we mean:
One should never judge someone when it relies on the words of another.
