Subjectivists are individuals who believe that reality is constructed by or filtered through individual consciousness, perspectives, and beliefs, rather than existing objectively and independently of human perception. They emphasize the role of personal experience, feelings, and interpretations in shaping knowledge, values, and understanding of the world. Subjectivists often argue that truth is relative to the subject or individual and that objective truth, if it exists, is either unattainable or irrelevant. Their views encompass a wide range of philosophical positions, from relativism and idealism to postmodernism and existentialism. They prioritize the internal world of the individual over the external world.
Subjectivists meaning with examples
- The art critic, a committed subjectivist, argued that a painting's beauty lay solely in the viewer's personal response, rejecting any objective criteria of artistic merit. For her, what the artist intended was less important than the emotions the piece evoked in the individual beholder, thus promoting her core belief.
- In therapy, the subjectivist therapist encouraged patients to explore their unique perceptions and narratives, believing that personal interpretation held the key to healing and self-understanding. Objective diagnoses were secondary to the patient's subjective experience and their individual journey of self-discovery and the construction of meaning.
- The historian, taking a subjectivist approach, emphasized how societal biases and personal values influenced the interpretation of historical events, arguing that there is no truly neutral account. Different individuals would inevitably view, interpret, and contextualize events from a subjective lens.
- The scientist, challenged by the findings, was labeled a subjectivist for proposing that the validity of any experiment was to be considered through its effect on human consciousness. Their perspective claimed that observations are intrinsically linked to the observer, thus shaping the recorded findings to a point.
- The philosopher was a subjectivist who posited that moral judgments are based on individual preferences and sentiments. Therefore, a universal moral code was unattainable since morals come from individual perceptions. For him, there was no such thing as universal good or evil.