Editing Subject-object problem

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then publish the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

Latest revision Your text
Line 1: Line 1:
From ''[[w:subject-object problem|en: Wikipedia: subject-object problem]]:''
From ''[[w:subject-object problem|en: Wikipedia: subject-object problem]]:''


"In ethics, social science and linguistics, the '''subject-object problem''' is a deliberate [[power grab]] or unintentional "confusion resulting from a shifting, inconsistent or vague assignment of observer and observed, active and passive, status in a sentence. Depending on how one views language, and [[w:mathematics as a langauge|mathematics as a language]], this confusion may extend quite deeply into philosophy of all kinds including that of [[law]], [[science]] and [http://wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=mathematics mathematics itself].
In ethics, social science and linguistics, the '''subject-object problem''' is a deliberate [[power grab]] or unintentional "confusion resulting from a shifting, inconsistent or vague assignment of observer and observed, active and passive, status in a sentence. Depending on how one views language, and [[w:mathematics as a langauge|mathematics as a language]], this confusion may extend quite deeply into philosophy of all kinds including that of law, science and [http://wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=mathematics mathematics itself].


=== in language ===
=== in language ===


In languages generally, one's choice of [[pronoun]] chooses a particular subject or subjects to address a particular object or objects. For instance, the always-capitalized "He" refers in English to God, and to say "we..." (''editor:  as in [[Consumerium:We]]'') is always to imply that there is more than one, seeking to state something that has been decided by them, to some other. The range of pronouns available in a language is a key influence on how the subjects and objects are perceived by any native speaker of that language as a mother tongue. For instance, the English language has only the one word for "we", ambiguously implying all levels of consensus from "me and my invisible friend" to "me and the whole Royal Navy". The listener must guess the degree of force that is backing the statement.
In languages generally, one's choice of pronoun chooses a particular subject or subjects to address a particular object or objects. For instance, the always-capitalized "He" refers in English to God, and to say "we..." is always to imply that there is more than one, seeking to state something that has been decided by them, to some other. The range of pronouns available in a language is a key influence on how the subjects and objects are perceived by any native speaker of that language as a mother tongue. For instance, the English language has only the one word for "we", ambiguously implying all levels of consensus from "me and my invisible friend" to "me and the whole Royal Navy". The listener must guess the degree of force that is backing the statement.


Other languages, such as that of the Penan, an aboriginal people of Borneo, may use several words for varying degrees of [[commitment]] and [[consensus]] among different groups - the Penan have six words for varying levels of "we" - but yet have no word to describe the status of a domestic animal. The idea of taking in an animal, caring for it, and then killing it, is abhorrent to them. Living things are either in the family, and thus cannot be hunted, or not. Power is thus reflected in the language directly. To the Penan, all discourse in English probably has a serious '''subject-object problem''', as '''who's we''' is never quite clear - it requires cultural context to actually understand who "we" might be, when.
Other languages, such as that of the Penan, an aboriginal people of Borneo, may use several words for varying degrees of commitment and consensus among different groups - the Penan have six words for varying levels of "we" - but yet have no word to describe the status of a domestic animal. The idea of taking in an animal, caring for it, and then killing it, is abhorrent to them. Living things are either in the family, and thus cannot be hunted, or not. Power is thus reflected in the language directly. To the Penan, all discourse in English probably has a serious subject-object problem, as who's we is never quite clear - it requires cultural context to actually understand who "we" might be, when.


=== As it relates to language and power ===
=== As it relates to language and power ===


A closely related power issue in ethics, sociology and philosophy of science is that of '''the other''', that being, an entity or [[group entity]] which is always treated as an object, assuming oneself or "those like oneself" as the subject. In making such a universal assignment of object status, a group such as slaves, women, psychiatric patients, workers, foreigners, (editor adds:  [[trolls]]) or debtors can be assigned some subordinate status by use of language. The master, man, clinician, employer, citizen, (editor adds: [[sysop]]), creditor, respectively, can legally (using force) assume some power for the other, and speak for them in the same manner as the fictional literary omniscient narrator."
A closely related power issue in ethics, sociology and philosophy of science is that of '''the other''', that being, an entity or group-entity which is always treated as an object, assuming oneself or "those like oneself" as the subject. In making such a universal assignment of object status, a group such as slaves, women, psychiatric patients, workers, foreigners, or debtors can be assigned some subordinate status by use of language. The master, man, clinician, employer, citizen, creditor, respectively, can legally (using force) assume some power for the other, and speak for them in the same manner as the fictional literary omniscient narrator."


Thus '''objectification''' including '''sexual objectication''' is a matter of reducing a person into a position of always being perceived, never perceiving.
Thus '''objectification''' including '''sexual objectication''' is a matter of reducing a person into a position of always being perceived, never perceiving.
Please note that all contributions to Consumerium development wiki are considered to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 or later (see Consumerium:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following CAPTCHA:

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)