Shamik Dasgupta, Berkeley :: Objectivity as a Normative Notion (Twice Over)
Friday September 15, 2023

Abstract: I will argue that objectivity is a normative notion. By this I don’t mean that objectivity has normative qualities such as being valuable or worth striving for. That may be true, but it’s not the claim defended here. Rather, the claim is that normativity is part of what objectivity is; that when we analyze objectivity we’ll find normativity built into it. Moreover, we’ll find primitive normativity—normative properties that are not identical or reducible to natural properties of the cosmos (or even super-natural properties of the divine, if there are such things). I have argued elsewhere that there is no such thing as primitive normativity, so for me the upshot is that there is no such thing as objectivity either. But your mileage may vary: if you’re wedded to objectivity, the upshot is that you’re wedded to primitive normativity too.