Q&A: Objectivity
Objectivity
Question
How can I check whether I am objective?
More precisely: is objectivity even possible at all? If every object of perception has a perceiver, does truly objective perception exist? Isn’t every perception necessarily subjective?
Answer
There is no completely objective perception, but we still have to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty. All we can do is examine things as best we can, and that’s it. And if we were mistaken—then the error is ours to live with.
If you are expecting sharp criteria, in my opinion there are none.
Discussion on Answer
A corrected version of my comment quoted above.
For the sake of precision and truth, in principle there is no such thing as “objective” perception at all. We are, as it were, “trapped” in a completely subjective reality anchored within the domain of consciousness, and one should not err and think that this is subjectivity as an “objective” definition, for the latter is simply the former defining itself—that is, subjectivity defines “objectivity,” and in doing so it in a sense alienates itself from itself through a self-denial of its primary and fundamental nature. Therefore, from a philosophical point of view, I hold in principle a solipsistic position as the only certainty available to me. However, since in principle I am unable to refute (though not to verify) the presumed existence of a reality independent of subjective consciousness, meaning one considered transcendental (not merely not “mine,” but rather that even the “I” itself is embodied within its all-encompassing totality) to the realm of subjective experience within consciousness, therefore the solipsistic position and approach to which I adhere in principle is only a kind of default of relative certainty, though for me it is absolute. In this I follow the principle taught by the Sages: when there is certainty and doubt, certainty is preferable. And in light of that guiding principle, I choose critical solipsism as the preferred position.
For the sake of precision and truth, there is in fact no such thing as “objective” perception at all. We exist in a completely subjective reality, and this is not subjectivity defined in any “objective” sense. Therefore, in principle I hold a solipsistic position as the only certainty available to me. However, since in principle I am unable to refute (though not to verify) the presumed existence of a reality that does not depend on subjective consciousness—in the sense that it is transcendental to consciousness (not merely not “mine,” but rather that even the “I” itself is embodied within its all-encompassing totality) and lies beyond the domain of subjective experience within consciousness—therefore the solipsistic position and approach to which I adhere in principle is only a kind of default of relative certainty, though for me it is absolute. In this I follow the principle taught by the Sages: when there is certainty and doubt, certainty is preferable. And in light of that guiding principle, I choose critical solipsism as the preferred position.