Fall 2023 Colloquium Series 15 September
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鈥檛 mean that objectivity has normative qualities such as being valuable or worth striving for. That may be true, but it鈥檚 not the claim defended here. Rather, the claim is that normativity is part of what objectivity is; that when we analyze objectivity we鈥檒l find normativity built into it. Moreover, we鈥檒l find primitive normativity鈥攏ormative 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鈥檙e wedded to objectivity, the upshot is that you鈥檙e wedded to primitive normativity too.