Abstract
The problem of objectivity centers on the question: What can we Know about reality The dominant epistemology (theory of Knowledge) underlying most accounts of cognition begins with the assumption that the world, i.e., objective reality, exists independently of we who observe it. Thus, the logical imperative for the philosopher, psychologist, or neurophysiologist is to account for how we perceive and Know about such a world.
What we know is generally considered to be the result of our exploration of the real world, of the way things really are. . . . How we know is a far more vexing problem. To solve it, the mind needs to step outside itself, so to speak for at this point we are no longer with facts that apparently exist independently of us in the outside world ...
Paul Watzlawick
Cloquet hated reality but realized it was still the only place to get a good steak.
Woody Allen
The fish is the last one to know that it lives in the water.
Chinese aphorism
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Watzlawick, Paul (Ed.). (1984). The invented reality. How do we Know what we believe we Know? New York: W. W. Norton, p. 9.
Allen, Woody. (1980). Side effects. New York: Ballantine, p. 13.
Source unknown.
Maturana, Humberto. Lecture “Biology of social systems,” given at the Health Science Centre on June 21, 1983, presented by the Family Therapy Program, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Canada. Sponsored by Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Von Glasersfeld, Ernst. (1984). Lecture, Mental Research Institute conference in Munich, Germany.
Mahoney, Michael. (1976). The scientist as subject: The psychological imperative. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Co., p. 3.
Capra, Fritjof. (1982). The turning point: Science, society and the rising culture. New York: Bantam Books, p. 71.
Ibid. p. 53.
Matson, Floyd, W. (1964). The broken image: Man, science and society. New York: George Braziller, p. 27.
Capra, Fritjof. Op cit., p. 57.
Ryle, Gilbert. (1949). The concept of mind. New York: Barnes and Noble, p. 11–12.
Capra, Fritjof. Op cit., p. 60.
Rapoport, Anatol. (1968). Foreward in, Modern Cybernetics Research for the behavioral scientist, Buckley, W. (Ed.) Chicago: Aldine. pp. xiv–xv.
D’Alembert, Elements de philosophie; quoted in Matson, Op cit., p. 28.
D’Abro, A. (1951). The rise of the new physics, (Vol. 1) New York: Dover Press, p. 45.
Matson, Floyd W. (1964). The broken image: Man, science and society, New York: George Braziller, p. 42.
Watzlawick, Paul. (Ed.) (1984). The invented reality: How do we Know what we believe we Know? New York: W. W. Norton, p. 15.
Breuer, Rolf. Self-reflexivity in literature: The example of Samuel Beckett’s novel trilogy, in Watzlawick, Paul, (Ed.) (1984). The invented reality: How do we Know what we believe we Know? New York: W. W. Norton, p. 145.
Planck, Max. (1932). Where is science going? New York: Norton, p. 82.
D’Abro, A. (1961). The rise of the new physics, (Vol. 1). New York: Dover Press, p. 14.
Cooper, Lynn A. and Shepard, Rodger, N. (1984, December). Turning something over in the mind. Scientific American. Vol. 251, No. 6, p. 106.
Mahoney, Michael. Op. cit., p. 129.
D’Abro, A. Op. cit., p. 14.
D’Abro, A. Op. cit., p. 14.
Von Foerster, Heinz. (1981). On constructing a reality. Republished in Observing systems. Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, p. 295.
Restak, Richard. (1984). The brain. New York: Bantam Books, p. 51.
Eddington, Sir Arthur. (1936). Science and the unseen world; Quoted in Joad, C. D. M. Guide to Philosophy, New York: Dover Publication, p. 34.
Von Foerster, Heinz. (1981). Notes on an epistemology of living things. Republished in Observing systems. Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, pp. 258–259.
Ibid.
Piaget, Jean and Inhelder, Barbel. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books, Inc., p. 13.
Elkind, David (Ed.). (1958). Six Psychological Studies by Jean Piaget. New York: Vintage Books, pp. xi–xii.
Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language (2nd Edition). (1980). David B. Guralnik, Editor in Chief. New York: Simon and Schuster.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. (1969). Edited by William Morris. New York: The American Heritage Company, Inc., & Houghton-Mifflin, Co.
Piattelli-Palmarimi, Massimo. (Ed.) (1980). Language and learning. The debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 23.
Von Glasersfeld, Ernst. On radical constructivism, in Watzlawick, Paul, Ed. (1984). The invented reality: How do we Know? New York: W. W. Norton, p. 18.
Von Glasersfeld, Ernst. Ibid. p. 24.
Varela, Francisco. (1981). Introduction, Observing systems. Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, p. xi.
Von Foerster, Heinz. (1981). Notes on an epistemology of living things. Republished in Observing systems. Seaside, CA: Intersystems Publications, pp. 258–259.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Segal, L. (2001). The Myth of Objectivity. In: The Dream of Reality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0115-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0115-8_2
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-95130-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0115-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive