Questions tagged [objectivity]
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How can the strength of evidence (both positive and negative) for a proposition P be assessed and aggregated objectively?
Questions such as Is there more evidence for God than for Russell’s teapot? and Is evidence for the "big bang" superior to evidence for "god"? are challenging to answer objectively ...
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Can the conflict between morality and amorality be resolved? [closed]
Question inspired by another question: How can moral disagreements be resolved when the conflicting parties are guided by fundamentally different value systems?
In the spirit of the aforelinked ...
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How can moral disagreements be resolved when the conflicting parties are guided by fundamentally different value systems?
Consider the following scenarios:
Person A holds a belief system that regards human life as inherently sacred, leading them to oppose abortion in all circumstances, without exception. In contrast, ...
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Can objective morality be derived as a corollary from the assumption of God's existence?
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that a God does exist. From this premise/axiom, how would it logically follow that objective morality exists?
Even if it’s objectively true that God can punish ...
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Sam Harris' Moral Landscape objection
I know that Harris' book, "The Moral Landscape" has been widely criticized by philosophers. And after listening to him talk with Alex O'Connor relatively recently here, I came to feel that ...
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Does the notion of "moral progress" presuppose the existence of an objective moral standard?
Consider two societies: Society A, which rejects homosexuality, opposes abortion, and endorses slavery, and Society B, which embraces sexual diversity, supports women's right to choose, and rejects ...
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Are there non-religious variants of moral realism that defend the existence of objectively evil thoughts, intentions, and desires?
In many religions, not only actions but also thoughts, intentions, and desires can be considered evil, even if no action is taken. For instance, Jesus said that lustful thoughts count as adultery, and ...
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Is there such a thing as objective beauty? [duplicate]
Do examples of objective beauty exist? Or is all beauty subjective? My personal belief is that beauty is a subjective concept. Even if most (or even all) people agree that some particular thing X is ...
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Mind independence/dependence and objective/intersubjective/subjective existence
I think it’s an objective, empirical fact that humans have desires, emotions, values, and can think about non-existent entities (like dragons, or Santa Claus).
But there is no objective existence of ...
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Suppose something we thought was subjective was in fact chaotic (in the mathematical sense). How would we test for that?
I'm a mathematics PhD student, and I've often wondered how one distinguishes subjective phenomena from those that, instead, depend extremely upon initial conditions (i.e., are mathematically chaotic).
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What's the difference between objectivity and intersubjective agreement?
Suppose a multitude of people all recount similar experiences. They describe seeing a cup on a table or observing the Moon in the sky. Each person reports their own subjective experience of perceiving ...
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Mortimer Adler, "How to Read a Book": Two questions about the objectivity and subjectivity of reality
Mortimer Adler, in his "How to Read a Book" (1972 edition), Chapter 10, "Criticizing a Book Fairly", wrote:
The third [general maxim of intellectual etiquette] is closely related ...
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Does any strand, school, or proponent of moral realism say anything about what happens to moral offenders?
Suppose that:
(some form of) moral realism is true, that is, there exists at least some moral claims/assertions/principles that are themselves 'true', in some adequate sense
a person knows/is aware ...
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Moral Non-Realists Responses to Suffering
It seems to me that one possible grounding for objective morality is in the inherent badness of suffering.
Suffering is inherently bad, I believe, by definition, and non-instrumental suffering could ...
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Do we feel compelled to defend objectivity, but not subjectivity, because objectivity is a concept in the domain of the subjects' knowledge?
Objectivity
https://iep.utm.edu/objectiv/
The object is something that presumably exists independent of the subject’s perception of it. In other words, the object would be there, as it is, even if no ...
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Can moral realism, physicalism, and physical causal closure be all true at the same time?
For illustrative purposes, let X be the set of all instances where Bob has tortured and eaten babies alive for fun. (Also assume that X is non-empty, to avoid trivial responses.)
Suppose that ...
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Which view is theoretically more virtuous: (1) metaphysical solipsism, (2) everything is real or (3) some things are real and some are hallucinations?
Let's consider three theories:
Metaphysical solipsism.
Every subjective conscious experience points to an objective external reality.
Some subjective conscious experiences point to an objective ...
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Can disputes over what is reasonable or unreasonable to believe be resolved objectively?
Suppose there are two debaters A and B, and a proposition X. A thinks X is reasonable, and believes X. B does not think X is reasonable, and therefore lacks a belief in X. Thus, A and B are in ...
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Do atheists bear the burden of proof in showing why/how the reasons presented by theists are unconvincing?
In conversations and debates between atheists and theists, is it enough for the atheist to assert that they are skeptical of theism without providing justification, or does the atheist bear the burden ...
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Does Bloch want to "devour" the anti utopian nothing of death, and if so how?
Does Bloch want to "devour" the anti utopian nothing of death, and if so how?
images of hope against death are gathered, against this hardest
counterblow to utopia; death is therefore its ...
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Does anything have an objective purpose?
Does anything have an objective purpose? For example, maybe the purpose of eyes is to see. Or, is all purpose subjective? My guess is that nothing has an objective purpose, because the concept of ...
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Subjectivity vs. Objectivity, A Mathematical Analysis
To my knowledge, objectivity is more the merrier and subjectivity a loner. That is to say, the probability of something being objective is thought to increase with the number of observers. The whole ...
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Relativist or not, if harm is objectively bad, is that sufficient for mind independent values?
I suspect that harm is objectively bad, but I'm unsure whether the negative value of what is harmful is mind independent, because while I cannot take seriously any claim that, relative to me or not, ...
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Epistemic circularity and skepticism about reason
Disclaimer: I'm not a philosopher and I'm not a native speaker, so apologies if my question is somehow flawed as a result. I'm happy to clarify anything that is unclear. So here it is:
Reason's own ...
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Does a statement have to be true for it be objective? [closed]
For example let's say someone said "Dad just got home" as joke but the father hadn't actually arrived, or "He told you to take the trash out" but that was a lie and didn't actually ...
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Is objectivity necessarily interpreted through the senses?
One may commonly hear a claim that saying that something is “good” or “bad” is subjective, to which someone might respond, “It’s not subjective, it’s objectively bad.” They might mean there’s an ...
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When someone says "That makes/doesn't make sense" is that more subjective or more objective?
For example what if someone said "That makes sense" in response to saying "The pot will burn you if you touch it because it's hot." I'm inclined to say objective but it's possible ...
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Is saying something like "I know how to do that" or "I can't do that because I don't know how" considered objective or subjective?
I want to say these are subjective because don't they refer to a person's personal knowledge about something while still either being true or false? Or would they be considered objective?
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Would statements like "That car accident looks bad," and "It was a terrible car accident" be considered objective or subjective
I've been on the topic of objectivity and subjectivity for a while and I just wanted some clarification on these statements since they contain value judgments and I'm unsure which category they belong ...
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Is a statement that is partially true such as "Apples are yellow." considered an objective statement or what?
I want to say yes because apples are indeed yellow but not ALL apples are yellow. So where does this statement fall in terms of objectivity and subjectivity?
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Are there conjunctive facts and disjunctive facts?
Facts are supposed to be the grounds for truths. However, consider a conjunctive statement like "Paris is in France and New York City is in the USA". What fact grounds that? Is there such a ...
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Is the statement "They like curry chicken." an objective or subjective statement?
I'm inclined to believe it's objective because isn't them liking curry chicken the case regardless of how anyone else feels about it?
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What should I read to deepen my understanding about 'relativism and anti-realism'?
After some discussion, I noticed the philosophical questions I want to explore are mainly ideas that take a relativist and anti-realist point of view. (whether when it comes to morals, or concepts ...
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Is perspectivism a subtype of relativism?
This question is motivated by a comment discussion from my previous question. From this article that was linked in a comment:
“Perspectivism, or scientific relativism, is never relative to a subject: ...
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Does relativism deny or accept the existence of an objective truth?
I am a bit confused about what is the position of relativism with respect to objective truths.
Protagoras was the foundational relativist philosopher:
According to Plato, Protagoras thought:
Each ...
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Logical relativism ≠ logical pluralism = logical inclusivism?
Logical pluralism, in an attempted slogan, is, "There is no One True Logic, but a plurality of 'true' logics." But so on this site I have seen the phrase "logical pluralism" ...
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What is the distinction between Gegenstand and Objekt?
In German philosophy (particularly Kant and Husserl), the concepts Gegenstand and Objekt (and their conjugations Gegenständlichkeit and Objektivität) are used to describe very different things while ...
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Can ethics be a continuum
Writing a paper for an introduction to philosophy course. I'm trying to argue that ethics are not simply objective or subjective, but somewhere in between, like a continuum.
What I'm trying to say, ...
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Is it possible to be completely objective?
Ideally, in all analysis, one would like to be completely objective. Is this possible? What are the indicators that my view is not objective? What philosophies or philosophers best address this ...
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Can inferences be objective?
Is it correct to say that inferences are subjective at all times because they are always made by individual minds and depend on a range of factors influencing those particular minds?
Or can inferences ...
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Can the simplicity of a hypothesis be objectively measured?
When two or more hypotheses can explain the same evidence, it's commonly affirmed that simpler hypotheses should be preferred over more complex ones.
For example, in response to my previous question ...
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Is there an objective standard of sufficient evidence?
It's very common to hear people say that we should only believe claims that are supported by sufficient evidence. Intuitively it seems to make sense, until we realize that this recommendation begs ...
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Is objectivity necessary for anything beside communication?
By "subjective", I mean something that occurs only in a single mind and cannot be shared even in principle. A common example is pain. You cannot feel someone else's pain. You might observe ...
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Can Kant's objective or universal judgments be subjective (in the ordinary sense)?
What inspired this question is Prolegomena §18, particularly this passage:
All of our judgments are at first mere judgments of perception; they
hold only for us, i.e., for our subject, and only ...
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What qualifies as being 'part of' the state of affairs for an event?
In the book "Norms and Actions" by Georg Henrik Von Wright, an event is said to be an ordered pair of states of affairs, where the initial state of affairs transitions or changes to an end ...
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What is the best argument against the Platonic idea that mathematical objects are concrete things with causal powers?
What is the best argument against the Platonic idea that mathematical objects are concrete things with causal powers?
But what is a Platonic Form or Idea? Take for example a perfect
triangle, as it ...
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Is misinformation subjective or objective?
From what I understand, and I could be wrong, the government disseminates information that people consume. The government also tells us what is and is not true.
Now I am wondering, suppose ...
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Is it possible to quantify to what degree human experience is subjective?
On the most basic level, it is true that the world subjective in the sense that there is no absolute frame that an individual can switch over to and view the world from. However, it can also be ...
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What is the Difference between a Claim and a Fact? [closed]
I know for a fact a computer must somehow add numbers but since I can only suggest it, it is forced to be a claim.
In that case, how could I ever state anything as a fact if I can only ever claim it?
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Has a concept of good been defined separate from an anthropogenic perspective?
I am looking for a concept or word which may have been contrived that frames the attribute of “goodness” outside of any anthropogenic consideration. It would form the basis for measuring if an event “...
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