from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Objective \Ob*jec"tive\ ([o^]b*j[e^]k"t[i^]v), a. [Cf. F.
objectif.]
1. Of or pertaining to an object.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Metaph.) Of or pertaining to an object; contained in, or
having the nature or position of, an object; outward;
external; extrinsic; -- an epithet applied to whatever is
exterior to the mind, or which is simply an object of
thought or feeling, as opposed to being related to
thoughts of feelings, and opposed to {subjective}.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
In the Middle Ages, subject meant substance, and has
this sense in Descartes and Spinoza: sometimes,
also, in Reid. Subjective is used by William of
Occam to denote that which exists independent of
mind; objective, what is formed by the mind. This
shows what is meant by realitas objectiva in
Descartes. Kant and Fichte have inverted the
meanings. Subject, with them, is the mind which
knows; object, that which is known; subjective, the
varying conditions of the knowing mind; objective,
that which is in the constant nature of the thing
known. --Trendelenburg.
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Objective has come to mean that which has
independent existence or authority, apart from our
experience or thought. Thus, moral law is said to
have objective authority, that is, authority
belonging to itself, and not drawn from anything in
our nature. --Calderwood
(Fleming's
Vocabulary).
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3. Hence: Unbiased; unprejudiced; fair; uninfluenced by
personal feelings or personal interests; considering only
the facts of a situation unrelated to the observer; -- of
judgments, opinions, evaluations, conclusions, reasoning
processes.
[PJC]
Objective means that which belongs to, or proceeds
from, the object known, and not from the subject
knowing, and thus denotes what is real, in
opposition to that which is ideal -- what exists in
nature, in contrast to what exists merely in the
thought of the individual. --Sir. W.
Hamilton.
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4. (Gram.) Pertaining to, or designating, the case which
follows a transitive verb or a preposition, being that
case in which the direct object of the verb is placed. See
{Accusative}, n.
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Note: The objective case is frequently used without a
governing word, esp. in designations of time or space,
where a preposition, as at, in, on, etc., may be
supplied.
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My troublous dream [on] this night doth make me
sad. --Shak.
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To write of victories [in or for] next year.
--Hudibras.
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{Objective line} (Perspective), a line drawn on the
geometrical plane which is represented or sought to be
represented.
{Objective plane} (Perspective), any plane in the horizontal
plane that is represented.
{Objective point}, the point or result to which the
operations of an army are directed. By extension, the
point or purpose to which anything, as a journey or an
argument, is directed.
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Syn: {Objective}, {Subjective}.
Usage: Objective is applied to things exterior to the mind,
and objects of its attention; subjective, to the
operations of the mind itself. Hence, an objective
motive is some outward thing awakening desire; a
subjective motive is some internal feeling or
propensity. Objective views are those governed by
outward things; subjective views are produced or
modified by internal feeling. Sir Walter Scott's
poetry is chiefly objective; that of Wordsworth is
eminently subjective.
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In the philosophy of mind, subjective denotes
what is to be referred to the thinking subject,
the ego; objective what belongs to the object of
thought, the non-ego. --Sir. W.
Hamilton
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