It's Impossible To Be Absolutely Objective

When one makes the statement "it's impossible to be completely objective about anything" what is being expressed is that a person can't be completely objective about something. Something cannot be evaluated by itself and then told if it was good or bad, right or wrong, in its entirety. Its impossible to be completely objective about anything.


Now to get a better grasp of what I'm getting at, lets assume that I said "it's impossible to be completely objective about anything". So now we go into the examination of whether or not it is possible to do such an assessment. To begin with, there are some who say that it isn't. In fact, they say that you cannot, even in principle, be completely objective about something. For them, it is a contradiction of terms. They say that no being could be completely objective and they further assert that it is only a concept.

Now then, when someone utters the statement "it's impossible to be completely objective about anything", what they are really saying is that you can't be completely objective about any aspect of reality, including themselves, their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions. Now they further say that to determine whether something is good or bad, you must use your emotions. That is, you must use your mind. And they further say that subjective things can never be analyzed by means of scientific methods. It is an argument that doesn't stand up to scrutiny, doesn't it?

Now then, let's suppose that you find that point of view to be somewhat wrong. Suppose, for instance, that when you are thinking about your garden and you start to get a strong opinion about it, then that opinion is completely objective, isn't it? So then, isn't science a bit dead right?

Well, yes, and no. Science is completely objective, but not at the same time. Science can't tell you what is true or false; it can only tell you what has been observed. For example, when scientists observe that a particular kind of cancerous tumor increases in size in certain individuals over a certain period of time, they do not claim that this is necessarily true in all cases.

Now then, lets assume that scientists were to somehow prove that it is impossible to be completely objective about anything, including your own mind and actions, then wouldn't it follow that it is also impossible to be completely objective about yourself and your thoughts? Aren't you the only one who can decide how you will act? Isn't science saying that you are the one with the power to decide how you are going to act?

I'm not sure if scientists are saying this, but I believe them when they say it: that your mind and actions are completely within your control. It is possible for you to use scientific laws and models, and it is possible for you to use logic and rationalize things, and for you to learn how to control your mind and use your scientific methodologies and models, and build up your confidence and strength inside of yourself. At the same time, there are things that you cannot control. For instance, things that are out of your hands, such as how you feel about something can change how you act. People can also change their thoughts and feelings and behaviors and emotions, just like they can do anything else.


So it seems that both science and philosophy have some power over how you'll behave. In both cases, you are free to decide how you are going to act. There are no outside factors that are dictating to you what you should or shouldn't do. You can only make decisions based on logic and personal experience. I guess we can all agree that those who are experiencing more positive and powerful emotions and who are having more experiences that are positive tend to act in a much more reasonable and objective manner than someone who is experiencing negative emotions and who is acting in an unreasonable and subjective manner. Therefore, it seems to me, it is entirely possible to be completely objective and fairly logical, and still be completely subjective, which means that you can think and act any way you want!