提示单
客观和主观的主张

An objective claim is a statement about a 事实ual matter-one that can be proved true or false. For 事实ual matters there exist widely recognized criteria and 方法 to determine whether a claim is true or false. 主观主张, 另一方面, is 不 a 事实ual matter; it is an expression of belief, 的意见, 或者个人偏好. 主观主张 can不 be proved right or wrong by any generally accepted criteria.

客观的说 & 事实
客观主张可以是真也可以是假; just because something is objective does 不 mean it is true. The following are objective claims because they concern 事实ual matters, 这是, matters that can be verified as true or false:

Taipei 101 is the world's tallest building.
五加四等于十.
There are nine 地球s in our solar system.

Now, the first statement of 事实 is true (as of this writing); the other two are false. It is possible to verify the height of buildings and determine that Taipei 101 tops them all. It is possible to devise an experiment to demonstrate that five plus four does 不 equal ten or to use established criteria to determine whether Pluto is a 地球.

Facts previously considered true may come to be considered false if new criteria, 方法, 或者技术出现. 例如，的定义 地球 是最近修订的. Experts agreed that Pluto did 不 conform to the new accepted criteria. At that point, the statement, "There are nine 地球s in our solar system" became false. Even if a 事实ual statement is demonstrably false, it remains an objective claim on a 事实ual matter.

A statement is a 事实ual matter even if you can only imagine a method by which it might be verified. For example, suppose I claim that humanoid life exists on 地球s outside our galaxy. I can imagine 方法 that could be used to determine whether this is true, even if I can不 carry them out–send a faster-than-light spaceship to look, 也许. 然而, when I imagine 方法 I may 不 indulge in pure fantasy; I must use widely recognized criteria. If the consensus is that faster–than–light travel is impossible, then my imagined test using a faster-than-light ship fails to meet generally recognized criteria. I would have to propose a不her way to test my claim, using acceptable criteria. Whether you disbelieve or disagree with my claim, it is an objective claim; either there is or there is 不 humanoid life outside our galaxy, independently of whether or 不 either of us believes it.

主观的说 & 意见
与客观主张相反, subjective claims can不 be proved true or false by any generally accepted criteria. 主观的说 often express 意见, preferences, 价值s, feelings, and judgments. 即使它们可能涉及事实, they do 不 make 事实ual (provable) claims, 因此它们是, 在某种意义上, neither true nor false in the same way an objective claim is true or false. They are outside the realm of what is verifiable. For example, consider the following subjective claims:

鳟鱼比鲶鱼好吃.
触摸蜘蛛是很可怕的.
Venus Williams is the greatest athlete of this decade.
仓鼠是最好的宠物.

虽然我们知道它是 事实 人们吃鱼, 蜘蛛是可以被触摸的, 维纳斯·威廉姆斯是个运动员, 人们和仓鼠交朋友, 以上都是 价值 claims that can不 be proved true or false by any widely accepted criteria. We can just as easily make the following counter-claims:

鲶鱼比鳟鱼好吃多了.
触摸蜘蛛是令人着迷的.
Lance Armstrong is the best athlete ever.
每个人都应该养一只猫.

在意见问题上, there are no generally accepted standards or 方法 that would prove one or the other claim conclusively true or false. Neither of the opposing claims above is wrong, and either or both could be true. Just because a claim is subjective does 不 mean it is false.

In reading, you can often identify subjective claims by signal words such as these:

对立面的幻觉
Since objectivity does 不 guarantee truth, and since subjectivity is 不 necessarily false, it makes sense that objectivity is 不 the exact opposite of subjectivity. 主观性和客观性是 不同的方式 知道.

Mistaking subjectivity and objectivity as opposites can lead to problematic positions in philosophy, 道德, 和道德. If you are interested in pursuing this line of inquiry, you might start with "Thinking Critically About the ‘Subjective'/'Objective' Distinction" by Sandra LaFave of West Valley College in California:
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/subjective_objective.html

Since subjectivity is a different way 知道, it is important to participate respectfully in dialogue with those whose subjective claims differ from one's own. It is possible to respect the person even while disagreeing with that person's 的意见. 正如伏尔泰所说, “我可能不同意你说的话, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

The belief that every person is entitled to an 的意见 does 不 mean that every 的意见 is as good as any other. 并非所有的意见都同样有价值. 有些观点更有见地, 更实际的, or more compassionate-better for the human race in general, 你可能会说. 有缺陷的意见和判断, based on defective 事实 or defective reasoning, may be worse than foolish or impractical; they may be harmful-witness the Holocaust, a result of virulent racist 意见 put into action.

Cultivate the ability to distinguish objective from subjective; it is crucial to the critical evaluation of claims, 学术上的诚实, 尊重的对话.