OBJECTIVISM
This article appears in Volume V19, Page 949 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
|
Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NUM-ORC
|
|
OBJECTIVISM , in philosophy, a term used, in contradistinction to SUBJECTIVISM, for any theory of knowledge which to a greater or less extent attributes reality (as the source and necessary pre-requisite of knowledge) to the external world. The distinction is based upon the philosophical antithesis of the terms Object and Subject, and their respective adjectival forms " objective " and " subjective." In common use these terms are opposed as synonymous respectively with " real " and " imaginary," " practical " and " theoretical," " physical " and " psychic." A man " sees " an apparition; was there any physical manifestation, or was it merely a creation of his mind ? If the latter the phenomenon is described as purely subjective. Subjectivism in its extreme form denies that mind can know more than its own states. Objects, i.e. things-in-themselves, may or may not exist: the mind knows only its own sensations, perceptions, ideal constructions and so forth. In a modified form " subjectivism " is that theory which attaches special importance to the part played by the mind in the accumulation of experience. See PSYCHOLOGY; RELATIVITY OF KNOWLEDGE.
End of Article: OBJECTIVISM
If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/NUM_ORC/OBJECTIVISM.html">
OBJECTIVISM
</a>
|
(Previous) OBJECTIVE, or OBJECT GLASS
|
(Next) OBJECTS
|