What is Subjectivity?
Recently, I have been in debates that involved the concept of subjectivity, and I discovered that many people are confused by it, or don’t have a clear understanding of it. So, I thought I would try to explain it. “Subjectivity” can have different meanings in different contexts. It can mean consciousness or the content of consciousness. It can also mean that a claim or property is relative to a subject, or depends on the perspective of a subject. By “subject”, I mean a mind. Something is subjective if it is mind-dependent or perspective-dependent. Let’s consider a simple example: left and right. Your left is defined relative to you. Your left is not my left. If I am facing you, then my left is your right and vice versa. Left and right are perspective-dependent. They differ depending on one’s perspective. There is no cosmic left and right. Foward and backward are similar. They depend on a perspective and a direction of motion. Up and down are also perspective-dependent, but in a le