OBJECTIVITY 

By Professor Jon Saul

 

Objectivity is the great challenge of the social sciences (and sometimes even the natural sciences as well). Objectivity is the goal, but it not always possible to succeed at being totally objective. After all, we are all products of our environment, and this affects our perspective (and our ability to suspend our perspective).

 

Moreover, sometimes we have to make decisions with which others might not agree...again, the challenge of the social scientist!

 

Inferences are key to this process of finding and expressing the truth, just as inferences are similarly the key to the concept of bias.

 

Don't overthink for this class! Sometimes, just being straight up about what you think can lead as easily to the 'truth'...

 

It is admirable, though, that you are taking the assignments and the class seriously. This is a sure sign that you will learn what you need to from this course.

 

Try to remember to express yourself in the third person, the voice of fact and truth, rather than opinion!

 

Praise for Objectivity!

 

Many a thesaurus will list equitability or justness as synonyms for objectivity.

This is important to note, as equity and justice are on everyone’s minds these days.

 

Justness can be defined as “Consistent with what is morally right; righteous: a just cause.”

Or “Based on fact or sound reason; well-founded: a just appraisal.”

 

Equitability can be defined as “characterized by equity or fairness; just and right; fair; reasonable: equitable treatment of all citizens.”

 

Objectivity is distinct from subjectivity. The latter is opinion. Often defined as “the quality of being based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions” or “the quality of existing in someone's mind rather than the external world”.

 

Note that reality is a key element of objectivity. 

Reality is the opposite of what is unreal (or imagined).

 

Objectivity is associated with facts and truth (objective reality = truth).

Objectivity is also associated with justness.

However, scientific truth is best defined as “the simplest explanation that explains all the available facts”. Notice that there are three important aspects of this definition.

First, the question, “what is simple?” Sometimes this is a subjective judgment by an individual; for example, many equations (such as E=MC2 which expresses Einstein’s theory of relativity) are considered to be simple by the scientist, but I find them very complex!

Second, there is the issue of the “explanation”. Sometimes there can be more than one explanation for a situation, relationship or circumstance, as anyone knows who has tried to explain why he or she was late to class. 

Third, there is the idea of ‘available facts’. This is key for scientific truth –scientists are continually searching the ‘truth’. Indeed, the scientist always seeks new ‘facts’. Any new discovery leads to a new idea what is true. 

This is easily understood historically: during the 15th Century, Europeans commonly believed that the earth was flat (not really, but the example proves the point involved). It was thought that, if one sailed west from Europe, one would eventually reach the end of the earth and fall off! In 1492, however, Columbus sailed west from Spain and landed here, in North America. What happened? A new fact was discovered and people began to believe that the earth was round (a globe in shape). The ‘truth’ (that is, what people believed to be the truth) changed!

How can this be? If the truth is composed of proven facts, how can it change? Actually, scientists expect the truth to change. They always attempt to discover new facts. This is the process of experimentation (called the Scientific Method).

If scientists expect the ‘truth’ to change, what should ordinary people think about the truth? What is the wise thing to do? 

Think of a person in your life whom you consider to be wise - someone to whom you might go to for help. What would you want that person to do if he or she did not know how to help you? Certainly you would not want that person to lie; you would want honesty. You would want the wise person to admit that he or she did not know the answer!

Wisdom can best be found in the maxim that ‘human beings should understand the limits of their own knowledge”. In other words, we should understand that there are many ‘facts’ that we do not know (yet). The wise person is aware of both what he or she does and does not know. The truly wise individual admits that he or she does not know ‘the truth’, only the truth of the moment.