subjectivism

American  

[suhb-jek-tuh-viz-uhm] / səbˈdʒɛk təˌvɪz əm /

noun

1. Epistemology. the doctrine that all knowledge is limited to experiences by the self, and that transcendent knowledge is impossible.

2. Ethics.

   1. any of various theories maintaining that moral judgments are statements concerning the emotional or mental reactions of the individual or the community.

   2. any of several theories holding that certain states of thought or feeling are the highest good.

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subjectivism British  

/ səbˈdʒɛktɪˌvɪzəm /

noun

1. the meta-ethical doctrine that there are no absolute moral values but that these are variable in the same way as taste is

2. any similar philosophical theory, for example, about truth or perception

3. any theological theory that attaches primary importance to religious experience

4. the quality or condition of being subjective

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Other Word Forms

• subjectivist
  noun
• subjectivistic
  adjective
• subjectivistically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of subjectivism

First recorded in 1855–60; subjective + -ism

Example Sentences

Subjectivism, on the other hand, maintains that being is essentially the content of a knowing state, or an activity of the knower himself.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Perry, Ralph Barton

By Subjectivism is meant that system of philosophy which construes the universe in accordance with the epistemological principle that all knowledge is of its own states or activities.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Perry, Ralph Barton

Subjectivism, the doctrine of the pure relativity of knowledge, or that it is purely subjective.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin

Subjectivism has been used as a bad name in philosophy for so long that the suspicion of it is usually resented.

From The Unpopular Review, Number 19 July-December 1918 by Various

Subjectivism Originally Associated with Relativism and Scepticism 267 § 127.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Perry, Ralph Barton