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-	'''Objectivity''' is a central [[Philosophy|philosophical]] concept, related to [[reality]] and [[truth]], which has been variously defined by sources. Generally, objectivity means the state or quality of being [[wikt:true|true]] even outside a [[subject (philosophy)|subject]]'s individual biases, interpretations, feelings, and imaginings. A proposition is generally considered objectively true (to have '''objective truth''') when its truth conditions are met without biases caused by feelings, ideas, opinions, etc., of a [[sentient]] subject. A second, broader meaning of the term refers to the ability in any context to judge fairly, without partiality or external influence. This second meaning of ''objectivity'' is sometimes used [[synonym]]ously with ''[[Neutrality (philosophy)|neutrality]]''.	+
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-	== Objectivity of knowledge ==	+
-	"Objectivity" is an aspect of [[philosophy]] that originated in the early nineteenth century. [[Gottlob Frege]] was the first to apply it, when he expounded an [[epistemology|epistemological]] and [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] theory contrary to that of [[Immanuel Kant]]. Kant's [[rationalism]] attempted to reconcile the failures he perceived in [[philosophical realism]].	+
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-	Strong versions of this claim hold that there is only one correct description of this reality. If it is true that reality is mind-independent, then reality might include objects that are unknown to consciousness and thus might include objects not the subject of [[intensionality]]. Objectivity in [[references|referring]] requires a definition of [[truth]]. According to metaphysical objectivists, an object may truthfully be said to have this or that attribute, as in the statement "This object exists," whereas the statement "This object is true" or "false" is meaningless. For them, only propositions have [[truth value]]s. The terms "objectivity" and "objectivism" are not synonymous, with objectivism being an [[ontological]] theory that incorporates a [[ontological commitment|commitment]] to the objectivity of objects.	+
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-	[[Platonic idealism|Plato's idealism]] was a form of metaphysical objectivism, holding that the Ideas exist objectively and independently. [[George Berkeley|Berkeley's]] [[empiricist]] [[idealism]], on the other hand, could be called a [[subjectivism]]: he held that things only exist to the extent that they are perceived. Both theories claim methods of objectivity. Plato's definition of objectivity can be found in his [[Platonic epistemology|epistemology]], which takes as a model [[mathematics]], and his metaphysics, where knowledge of the ontological status of objects and ideas is resistant to change.	+
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-	[[Plato]] considered knowledge of [[geometry]] a condition of philosophical knowledge, both being concerned with [[universal (metaphysics)|universal]] truths. Plato's opposition between objective knowledge and ''[[doxa]]'' (opinions) became the basis for later philosophies intent on resolving the problem of reality, knowledge, and human existence. Personal opinions belong to the changing sphere of the sensible, opposed to a fixed and eternal [[incorporeal]] realm that is mutually intelligible.	+
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-	Where Plato distinguishes between what and how we know things (epistemology), and their ontological status as things (metaphysics), [[subjectivism]] such as Berkeley's and a mind dependence of knowledge and reality fails to distinguish between what one knows and what is to be known, or at least explains the distinction superficially. In Platonic terms, a criticism of [[subjectivism]] is that it is difficult to distinguish between knowledge, ''doxa'', and subjective knowledge (true belief), distinctions that Plato makes.	+
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-	The importance of perception in evaluating and understanding objective reality is debated. Direct or naive ealists argue that perception is key in directly observing objective reality, while [[instrumentalism|instrumentalists]] hold that perception is not necessarily useful in directly observing objective reality, but is useful in interpreting and predicting reality. The concepts that encompasses these ideas are important in the [[philosophy of science]]. Tyler Burge and others hold that objectivity is an outcome of perception which emerges where there are perceptual constancies	+
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-	==Objectivity in ethics==	+
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-	===Ethical subjectivism===	+
-	The term, "ethical subjectivism", covers two distinct theories in ethics. According to cognitive versions of ethical subjectivism, the truth of moral statements depends upon people's values, attitudes, feelings, or beliefs. Some forms of cognitivist ethical subjectivism can be counted as forms of realism, others are forms of anti-realism. David Hume is a foundational figure for cognitive ethical subjectivism. On a standard interpretation of his theory, a trait of character counts as a moral virtue when it evokes a sentiment of approbation in a sympathetic, informed, and rational human observer. Similarly, Roderick Firth's [[ideal observer theory]] held that right acts are those that an impartial, rational observer would approve of. William James, another ethical subjectivist, held that an end is good (to or for a person) just in the case it is desired by that person (see also [[ethical egoism]]). According to non-cognitive versions of ethical subjectivism, such as emotivism, prescriptivism, and expressivism, ethical statements cannot be true or false, at all: rather, they are expressions of personal feelings or commands. For example, on [[Alfred Ayer|A. J. Ayer's]] emotivism, the statement, "Murder is wrong" is equivalent in meaning to the emotive, "Murder, Boo!"	+
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-	===Ethical objectivism===	+
-	According to the ethical objectivist, the [[truth]] or falsehood of typical moral judgments does not depend upon the beliefs or feelings of any person or group of persons. This view holds that moral propositions are analogous to propositions about chemistry, biology, or history, in so much as they are true despite what anyone believes, hopes, wishes, or feels. When they fail to describe this mind-independent moral reality, they are false—no matter what anyone believes, hopes, wishes, or feels.	+
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-	There are many versions of ethical objectivism, including various religious views of morality, Platonistic intuitionism, [[Kantianism]], [[utilitarianism]], and certain forms of [[ethical egoism]] and [[contractualism]]. Note that Platonists define ethical objectivism in an even more narrow way, so that it requires the existence of intrinsic value. Consequently, they reject the idea that contractualists or egoists could be ethical objectivists. Objectivism, in turn, places primacy on the origin of the frame of reference—and, as such, considers any arbitrary frame of reference ultimately a form of ethical subjectivism by a transitive property, even when the frame incidentally coincides with reality and can be used for measurements.	+
-	==Further reading==	+
-	* [[Gaston Bachelard|Bachelard, Gaston]]. ''La formation de l'esprit scientifique : contribution à une psychanalyse de la connaissance''. Paris: Vrin, 2004. .	+
-	* Castillejo, David. ''The Formation of Modern Objectivity''. Madrid: Ediciones de Arte y Bibliofilia, 1982.	+
-	* [[Thomas Samuel Kuhn|Kuhn, Thomas S.]] ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, 3rd ed. .	+
-	* Megill, Allan. ''Rethinking Objectivity''. London: Duke UP, 1994.	+
-	* [[Ernest Nagel|Nagel, Ernest]]. ''The Structure of Science''. New York: Brace and World, 1961.	+
-	* [[Thomas Nagel|Nagel, Thomas]]. ''The View from Nowhere''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986	+
-	* [[Robert Nozick|Nozick, Robert]]. ''Invariances: the structure of the objective world''. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2001.	+
-	* [[Karl Popper|Popper, Karl. R.]] ''Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach''. Oxford University Press, 1972. .	+
-	* [[Nicholas Rescher|Rescher, Nicholas]]. ''Objectivity: the obligations of impersonal reason''. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 1977.	+
-	* [[Richard Rorty|Rorty, Richard]]. ''Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991	+
-	* Rousset, Bernard. ''La théorie kantienne de l'objectivité'', Paris: Vrin, 1967.	+
-	* Schaeffler, Israel. ''Science and Subjectivity''. Hackett, 1982. Voices of Wisdom; a multicultural philosophy reader. kessler	+
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-	==See also==	+
-	* [[Factual relativism]]	+
-	* [[Journalistic objectivity]]	+
-	* [[Naïve realism]]	+
-	* [[Objectivity (science)]]	+
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-	==See also==	+
-	* [[Epistemology]]	+
-	* [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|Phenomenology]]	+
-	* [[Truth]]	+
-	* [[Historical method]]	+
-	* [[Moral objectivism]]	+
-	* [[Scientific method]]	+
-	* [[Scholarly method]]	+
-	* [[Subject-object problem]]	+
-	* [[Philosophy of history#Michel Foucault's analysis of historical and political discourse|Michel Foucault's analysis of historical and political discourse]]	+
-	* [[Gilbert Ryle]]	+
-	* [[Concept#Gilles Deleuze's definition of Philosophy|Gilles Deleuze's definition of Philosophy]] as singular creation of concepts, opposed to the contemplation of universal objects	+
-	* [[Jürgen Habermas|Habermas']] conception of dialogue	+
-	* [[Jaakko Hintikka]]	+
-	* [[Alexius Meinong]]	+
-	* [[George Edward Moore]]	+
-	* [[Ayn Rand]]	+
-	* [[Paul Ricœur]]'s conception of history	+
-	* [[Bertrand Russell]]	+
-	* [[Franz Brentano]]	+
-	* [[Willard Van Orman Quine]] (specifically ''Word and Object'' )	+
-	* [[Objectivity (journalism)]]	+
-	* [[Objectivity (science)]]	+
-	* [[Journalism ethics and standards]]	+
-	* [[Historical method]]	+
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-	{{GFDL}}	+

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1. redirectSubjectivity and objectivity (philosophy)