Gabriel Dudlicek, Phillip Durgin, Angela Ferro, Adam Goldsmith
Objectivity is defined as a lack of bias or an accurate representation of reality. Under the assumption all knowledge is “situated” and therefore dependent on context, it is impossible or very difficult to have absolute truth. We cannot be confident that any knowledge is objective since it cannot be looked at from all angles and perspectives. If all knowledge is situated, then objectivity must be a social construction.
All humans have different backgrounds and perspectives which create biases in the way we interpret and convey information. This bias is known as subjectivity. While people strive for objectivity, we often find ourselves lacking. Galison quotes Lippmann saying, “As our minds become more deeply aware of their own subjectivism, we find a zest in objective method that is not otherwise there” (Lippmann 1922 cited in Galison 61). When confronted with our subjectivity, we attempt to construct rules and methods that allow us to be, or at least think we are being, more objective.
This constructed facade of objectivity is used as a type of rhetoric: each side tries to promote that they are objective, while at the same time convince the audience that their opponents are more subjective. “Advisors work hard to enact objectivity … critics … often attribute interests to the advisor, charging that the impression of objectivity is merely a mask.” (Hilgartner 14) It is also a tool by which we classify our knowledge, imparting it with the veneer of legitimacy. As a society, we have adapted the concept of objectivity to fit our needs by changing the connotations and use of the term objectivity.
Porter describes a difference between “disciplinary objectivity” and “absolute objectivity”; suggesting it is possible to be reasonably un-biased and representative of reality within a given discipline. As an example, he states “We trust physicists to tell us about phase transitions in supercooled helium, but we are more skeptical if they appear as paid expert witnesses in court, or when they tell of the great economic advantages that will attend the construction of a superconducting supercollider.” Objectivity may exist contextually, but cannot exist in an absolute sense because of the theory discussed by STS scholars that all knowledge is situated. All knowledge depends on the perspective from which it was created, and therefore an absolute truth is impossible—all knowledge must be subjective.
However, in claiming that objectivity is merely a social construct, there lies a paradox. We cannot be sure that objectivity is absolutely one thing or the other; we cannot assume the objectivity of objectivity. There is a situatedness to our knowledge of objectivity. We are reading texts which are centered around STS; perhaps other disciplines offer other understandings of what objectivity is.