Subjectivism, in Theory

Subjectivism is the philosophical notion that knowledge is mediated through individual human bias. It is an epistemological perspective that questions the possibility of absolute truth and a knowable world. This perspective implies that theory and research inquiry are shaped by subjective knowledge. This epistemological [Page 973]stance emerged in the twentieth century due to philosophical doubts about the ideal of an objective, knowable world. For example, literary theory suggests that language is an abstract concept in the sense that the signs (words and symbols) used to represent objects and ideas are independent of their referents. Thus, language and discourse do not come out of the interplay between subject and object, but are imposed on the object by the subject. The object or idea, then, makes no contribution to the creation of meaning making, and meaning does not come through an interaction with the object and is not bound by any correlation with an absolute.

Subjectivism stands in contrast to the two other primary epistemological perspectives: objectivism and constructionism. Modernist theory rests on objectivist (positivist and postpositivist) epistemological assumptions that suggest that there are generalizable, universal and static truths about reality that are waiting to be discovered through scientific inquiry. Sociology of knowledge perspectives rest on constructionist epistemological assumptions that assume that all knowledge is socially constructed, thus, knowledge is created through the social interaction between humans and the evolving social world they construct over time. Subjectivism offers a sharp divergence from objectivist and constructionist views of knowledge, since it evolved out of structuralist, poststructuralist, and postmodern thought. These perspectives view truth as ambiguous, relative, fragmented, particular, and discontinuous. Subjectivist epistemological assumptions are central to understanding structural, poststructural, and postmodern thought and challenge the possibility of objective knowledge contained in objectivism and constructionist assumptions that a shared truth can be created through social interaction.

Subjectivist epistemology has implications for how knowledge is viewed and how research is conceived. In an era when standards and scientifically based research are heralded as the key to improving education, subjectivism suggests that research is value laden and raises questions about the possibility of objective research. Rather than understanding reality in any true sense, subjectivism suggests that research knowledge is always partial, biased, and particular. In its purest form, this perspective further posits that subjective assumptions are always embedded in the theories used to shape research questions and inquiry. Thus, seemingly “objective” research questions are shaped by subjectivity, so claims of “truth” are really subjective interpretations mediated by the personal bias of researchers.