In this chapter, I discuss and defend objectivity as a
critically valuable norm for how people ought to communicate information publicly,
especially information about or bearing upon human activities. This norm plays
a central role in the natural and social sciences, in public media, and in
government and courts of law. In this essay, I will focus especially on the
role of this norm in the social sciences, while recognizing its critical value
for all public communication. It is especially important at present to
understand and defend the norm of objectivity because of diverse critiques and
misunderstandings. This chapter reviews and responds to some of these. The
chapter observes that the norm of objectivity is valued because it functions to
produce reliable information, which in turn facilitates problem-solving. The
argument in defense of objectivity proceeds through two steps. First, the
chapter examines and criticizes some widely held assumptions regarding the
standard understanding of the norm of objectivity. Then, the chapter moves on
to define and defend an alternative way of understanding the norm of
objectivity, which it refers to as the civic model of objectivity. Accordingly,
this model of objectivity especially calls for relevant information to be
communicated as an ongoing intelligible, reasonable, and inherently
reciprocating public activity. In keeping with these expectations, the chapter
further recognizes that value judgments affect how researchers identify,
interpret, and communicate reliable and accurate information. The chapter
describes how to make and communicate these judgments in keeping with the norm
of objectivity, rightly understood. Although the approach to objectivity
defended in this chapter may seem new and unorthodox, a strong case can be made
for arguing quite the opposite. The chapter ends by arguing that in broad
outline the position defended here was first outlined in Weber's classic essay
on objectivity, which he wrote in 1905.
Author(s) Details
Frederick Bird
Concordia University, Canada.
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/cpassr/v4/7183C
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