- Characteristics of subjective knowledge
- Differences between subjective and objective knowledge
- Examples of subjective knowledge
- Themes of interest
- References
The subjective knowledge is that which is born from our own content of individual minds of people. It is based on the concept of subjectivity and is related to the conception of reality that comes from the particular perception of each human being.
For example, "believing that God exists" is subjective knowledge, since that statement cannot be supported by data to confirm it. For the human and social sciences, subjective knowledge is part of the investigation, however, it can sometimes be displaced by objective knowledge.
The priority of one over the other is also linked to the type of research carried out. For example, if you wanted to do research to know the behavior of a customer around a product, you will find that the perception of a customer varies from individual to individual.
This is because it is an opinion that starts from the personal experience of each one with the product, that is, the subjective knowledge that each person has about the item.
Characteristics of subjective knowledge
Objective knowledge is related to ideas and to each individual's particular way of understanding reality. Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay
Being an element that starts from subjectivity, it is important to note that this, from a philosophical point of view, relates consciousness, influence, personality, reality and truth.
Subjectivity has to do then with processes such as conscious experience, feelings, beliefs and desires that allow generating perspectives.
Also part of the power of action that can be had over some entity or object. It also includes ideas, situations or things that are considered true from the individual.
Among the characteristics of subjective knowledge can be mentioned:
- Subjective knowledge is related to the expectations, perceptions and cultural understanding and beliefs that are generated or influenced in a person, when examining an external phenomenon.
- It comes from private mental events that belong to each person in particular and who can really experience them. Include areas such as feelings or sensations.
For example, the perception of insects can vary according to the type of person who interacts with them: an arachnophobic will have a particular experience when interacting with spiders that is very different from a person who does not suffer from any phobia of them.
- It does not require evidence, since what is captured or perceived by the individual is part of their own knowledge generated by their mental contents and does not admit external verification.
- It relates to how much a person thinks they know about something. Humberto Maturana, contemporary philosopher, affirms with regard to "knowing" that people "think they know" because there is no awareness that they are actually "believing they know" something.
- Subjectivity is related to ideas as the particular way of understanding reality in each individual.
- It is born from individual experience, which turns subjective knowledge into a personal and private aspect.
- It is not an experience that can be shared by different individuals. For example, the sensation of heat by a person in a room where the temperature has not changed, is not a perception that perhaps all the people in the place can share and it becomes an independent experience within an objective reality.
Differences between subjective and objective knowledge
- In the world of science, objective knowledge prevails over subjective, because in a way, subjective is conceived as non-real knowledge.
There is a first comparison that can be made from scientific knowledge that raises the following characteristics of objective and subjective knowledge: the objective is exact, adequate, true, scientific, individual, acceptable. For its part, the subjective is totally the opposite, inaccurate, inadequate, false, unscientific, general, and rejectable.
- Within the research in the human and social sciences, the subjective element is usually united to be able to collect valuable information regarding a phenomenon or object of study. In this way, subjective knowledge is recognized as declared while the objective is verified.
- Objective knowledge is not influenced by personal feelings, tastes or preferences. Subjective knowledge includes personal experience, sensory and cultural perceptions, and everything that arises from people's mental processes.
- The objective knowledge is verifiable and can be shared as true in a generalized way. This is in contrast to subjective knowledge, which is not oriented to verification and cannot be shared in a general way since it is produced from personal and individual experience or perception.
Examples of subjective knowledge
Subjective knowledge is generated in people's own and private content. Image by 坤 张 from Pixabay
The subjective knowledge generated by man comes from what he thinks he knows about something, unlike the objective that is based on what is known in a proven and evidenced way.
Some examples of subjective knowledge can be
-The opinions. A person can affirm that a movie is boring or slow, however, it is a personal opinion that can vary depending on who watches the movie.
Instead, the length of the film, for example, would be a type of objective knowledge since it is a proven fact that can be evidenced.
-The physical sensations. In this case, it has to do with what can be perceived on a physical level. The sensation of pain is a type of objective knowledge that can only be experienced by the person who feels it. Its intensity, the area of pain, are factors that cannot be evidenced and that depend on a person's perception.
-The beliefs. Within culture, religions and some hobbies, there are also multiple subjective knowledge.
For example, in the case of superstitions, claiming that going under a ladder, or looking at yourself through a broken mirror can cause bad luck, is a type of subjective knowledge that comes from beliefs.
It cannot be proven that bad luck really happens in this way and it is only based on what the person thinks they know. Superstitions are often used as ways to explain a phenomenon, when no logical foundations are found.
Themes of interest
Types of knowledge.
Objective knowledge.
Vulgar knowledge.
Rational knowledge.
Technical knowledge.
Intuitive knowledge.
Direct knowledge.
Intellectual knowledge.
Empirical knowledge.
References
- Schwyzer H (1997). Subjectivity in Descartes and Kant. The Philosophical Quarterly Vol. 47, No. 188. Recovered from jstor.org
- Subjectivity definition. Simply Philosophy. Recovered from simplyphilosophy.org
- Subjectivity. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org
- Han T (2019). Objective knowledge, subjective knowledge, and prior experience of organic cotton apparel. Springer Singapore. Recovered from link.springer.com
- Subjective and Objective. Indiana University Bloomington. Recovered from indiana.edu
- Ortiz A (2013) Relationship between objectivity and subjectivity in the human and social sciences.. El Bosque Colombia. Colombian Journal of Philosophy of Science University vol. 13, no. 27. Recovered from redalyc.org
- Espinosa M, Barreiro J. Differences between subjective and objective knowledge of environmental commitments: the case of agri-environmental measures in Spain. Recovered from uibcongres.org
- Vilarnovo A (1993). Objective and subjective: hermeneutics of science. Recovered from dadun.unav.edu
- Objective vs. Subjective - What's the Difference ?. Recovered from writingexplained.org
- Objectivity. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org