issue157

fantasianosUID: 207837

The question whether one thing is objective or subjective has been asked ever since the time when philosophy was born. The majority of population is prone to tell that they are now living physically on the earth, and will die in some tens of years, while an ancient mathematician and philosopher declared that "I think, therefore I am". The vexing problem is now brought to the field of observation. More precisely, are our observations objective and subjective?

To solve this intricate problem, it is vital to make sure the meaning of "objective" and "subjective". The well-accepted definition of "objective" is that something does exist or does not exist, no matter whether the human beings have seen, smelled, tasted, heard, touched or not. In other words, one objective thing is free from the decision of human mind, such as the existence of the Earth and the round shape of it. In contrast, what can be defined as subjective is what is, to some degree, influenced by human minds. An often cited case is emotion and affection.

Besides the two definitions, before an answer of the question at the beginning can be provided a clear answer, one more problem should be explored: How can a certain observation be identified as objective or subjective. Philosophically, it is equal to ask what criteria are against to determine the objectivity and subjectivity. Logically, if a certain thing is objective, which means that it is not affected by human mind, then all the cognition of it must be actually the same, though sometimes superficially diverse. On the other hand the cognition of a subjective one can differ in a large spectrum. Take the exhibition in a gallery for example. What is unchanged and objective is the place where a picture is hung and the content of it, while the understanding toward the emotion expressed by the artist is largely attached to the intelligence of audience.

Then comes the time to consider whether our observations are subjective or objective. What is inclined to make a difference in the subjectivity and objectivity of an observation may include the purpose of observation, the belief of the observer, whether what is observed is subjective or objective, the approach to catch out the observation and so on, which make the way to distinguish vexingly difficult to be formularized. A case in point is the observation of the sun. Many persons surely will say that the existence of the sun is a fact that can not be denied, while some others will probably show a large quantity of arguments to prove that the existence and situation of the sun holistically depends on the human mind. But one western mathematician not many years ago had disproved the alleging of that "others". What he said was that when people looked into the sky, their eyes were dazzled by the shining sun, and their skins felt the heat of sunlight. He also claimed that by means of pure science, when an eclipse would happen was able to be predicted, and any man or woman went on the very day, he or she per se could ascertain the fact. Another example is that what a person feels about another person is subjective, judging from its relation with the mind of the observer.

There certainly will be someone that declares that all the observations are guided by the observer's expectations or desires. How, nevertheless, can they explain the fact that they have to eat and sleep to survive? Why not just "believe" that they are not hungry or they are not tired? This definitely will be an interesting dilemma for them.

As a conclusion, there are both objective observations and subjective ones, although to distinguish one from the other is a heartbreaking and backbreaking stock for examination. What is appropriate to do is to study case-by-case discreetly.

staralwaysUID: 193479

The question whether one thing is objective or subjective has been asked ever since the time when philosophy was born. The majority of population is prone to tell that they are now living physically on the earth, and will die in some tens of years, while an ancient mathematician and philosopher declared that "I think, therefore I am". The vexing problem is now brought to the field of observation. More precisely, are our observations objective and subjective?

To solve this intricate problem, it is vital to make sure the meaning of "objective" and "subjective". [很好的思路。] The well-accepted definition of "objective" is that something does exist or does not exist, no matter whether the human beings have seen, smelled, tasted, heard, touched or not. In other words, one objective thing is free from the decision of human mind, such as the existence of the Earth and the round shape of it. In contrast, what can be defined as subjective is what is, to some degree, influenced by human minds. An often cited case is emotion and affection. [这句似乎略显多余；或者再简单地小结下。]

Besides the two definitions, before an answer of the question at the beginning can be provided a clear answer, one more problem should be explored: How can a certain observation be identified as objective or subjective. [一步一步递进。] Philosophically, it is equal to ask what criteria are against to determine the objectivity and subjectivity. Logically, if a certain thing is objective, which means that it is not affected by human mind, then all the cognition of it must be actually the same, though sometimes superficially diverse. On the other hand the cognition of a subjective one can differ in a large spectrum. Take the exhibition in a gallery for example. What is unchanged and objective is the place where a picture is hung and the content of it, while the understanding toward the emotion expressed by the artist is largely attached to the intelligence of audience. [区别“客观”以及“主观”的观察。]

Then comes the time to consider whether our observations are subjective or objective. [来到了题目。] What is inclined to make a difference in the subjectivity and objectivity of an observation may include the purpose of observation, the belief of the observer, whether what is observed is subjective or objective, the approach to catch out the observation and so on, which make the way to distinguish vexingly difficult to be formularized. A case in point is the observation of the sun. Many persons surely will say that the existence of the sun is a fact that cannot be denied, while some others will probably show a large quantity of arguments to prove that the existence and situation of the sun holistically depends on the human mind. But one western mathematician not many years ago had disproved the alleging of that "others". What he said was that when people looked into the sky, their eyes were dazzled by the shining sun, and their skins felt the heat of sunlight. He also claimed that by means of pure science, when an eclipse would happen was able to be predicted, and any man or woman went on the very day, he or she per se could ascertain the fact. Another example is that what a person feels about another person is subjective, judging from its relation with the mind of the observer. [觉得这之间的关系还是很微妙。]

There certainly will be someone that declares that all the observations are guided by the observer's expectations or desires. How, nevertheless, can they explain the fact that they have to eat and sleep to survive? Why not just "believe" that they are not hungry or they are not tired? This definitely will be an interesting dilemma for them.

As a conclusion, there are both objective observations and subjective ones, although to distinguish one from the other is a heartbreaking and backbreaking stock for examination. What is appropriate to do is to study case-by-case discreetly.

fantasianosUID: 207837

谢谢，我再仔细看看