Location
University of Windsor
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
bias, detachment, objectivity, self-knowledge, virtue
Start Date
18-5-2016 9:00 AM
End Date
21-5-2016 5:00 PM
Abstract
While, in common usage, objectivity is usually regarded as a virtue, and failures to be objective as vices, this concept tends to be absent in argumentation theory. This paper will explore the possibility of taking objectivity as an argumentative virtue. Several problems immediately arise: could objectivity be understood in positive terms— not only as mere absence of bias? Is it an attainable ideal? Or perhaps objectivity could be explained as a combination of other virtues?
Creative Commons License
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Reader's Reactions
William R. Minto, Commentary on 'Pursuing objectivity: How virtuous can you get?' (May 2016)
Pursuing objectivity: How virtuous can you get?
University of Windsor
While, in common usage, objectivity is usually regarded as a virtue, and failures to be objective as vices, this concept tends to be absent in argumentation theory. This paper will explore the possibility of taking objectivity as an argumentative virtue. Several problems immediately arise: could objectivity be understood in positive terms— not only as mere absence of bias? Is it an attainable ideal? Or perhaps objectivity could be explained as a combination of other virtues?
