When I say, for example, "Liberalism is best," am I speaking the *truth*? Do the facts and the evidence and the arguments make my assertion *justified*? Consequently, is my belief *objective*—or subjective? Do I *know* it, or is mine just another *opinion*? Is it all “just” semantics—or do concepts have real *meanings*? Do statistics lie or capture probabilities? Is history written by the winners and so dismissible* bias*, or can we all genuinely learn from it? In this essay I focus on two mistakes that regularly plague thinking about objectivity. One is the mistake of seeing two only options (intrinsicism and subjectivism) when in fact there are three. The second is making assumptions that implicitly demand omniscience or a view from nowhere—and taking the failure of human cognition to live up to those impossible standards as making objectivity impossible. Instead, we should start with actual human beings and discover how their cognitive capacities work and why objectivity arises as a need for them to strive for.
Keywords: Objectivity, Subjectivity, Intrinsicism
JEL Classification: B41
Suggested Citation:
Hicks, Stephen R. C., Objectivity for Actual Human Beings (June 7, 2021). Douglas Rasmussen, Ph.D., editor, *Essays in Honor of Dr. David Gordon*, Mises Institute, 2021 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3861366.
When I say, for example, "Liberalism is best," am I speaking the *truth*? Do the facts and the evidence and the arguments make my assertion *justified*? Consequently, is my belief *objective*—or subjective? Do I *know* it, or is mine just another *opinion*? Is it all “just” semantics—or do concepts have real *meanings*? Do statistics lie or capture probabilities? Is history written by the winners and so dismissible* bias*, or can we all genuinely learn from it?
In this essay I focus on two mistakes that regularly plague thinking about objectivity. One is the mistake of seeing two only options (intrinsicism and subjectivism) when in fact there are three. The second is making assumptions that implicitly demand omniscience or a view from nowhere—and taking the failure of human cognition to live up to those impossible standards as making objectivity impossible.
Instead, we should start with actual human beings and discover how their cognitive capacities work and why objectivity arises as a need for them to strive for.
Keywords: Objectivity, Subjectivity, Intrinsicism
JEL Classification: B41
Suggested Citation:
Hicks, Stephen R. C., Objectivity for Actual Human Beings (June 7, 2021). Douglas Rasmussen, Ph.D., editor, *Essays in Honor of Dr. David Gordon*, Mises Institute, 2021 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3861366.