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( Objectivity (science))
"[A]n objective account is one which attempts to capture the nature of the object studied in a way that does not depend on any features of the particular subject who studies it. An objective account is, in this sense, impartial, one which could ideally be accepted by any subject, because it does not draw on any assumptions, prejudices, or values of particular subjects. This feature of objective accounts means that disputes can be contained to the object studied." (Gaukroger, 2001, p. 10785). Science is mostly regarded objective in this sense and this objectivity in science is often attributed with the property of scientific measurement that can be tested independent from the individual scientist (the subject) who proposes them. It is thus intimately related to the aim of testability and reproducibility. To be properly considered objective, the results of measurement must be communicated from person-to-person, and then demonstrated for third parties, as an advance in understanding of the objective world. Such demonstrable knowledge would ordinarily confer demonstrable powers of prediction or technological construction. However, what this traditional view ignores is that a given community of researchers often shares certain "subjective views" and that this subjectivity therefore is built into the conceptual systems as well as into the tools used for measurement. Objectivity is thus only possible given a set of neutral or shared assumptions and it is today a controversial issue whether objectivity is possible in all, some, or no cases. Objectivity should not be mixed up with scientific consensus Scientist may agree at one point in time but later discover that this consensus represented a subjective point of view.
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