Object (philosophy) - Wikipedia Object (philosophy) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Philosophy term often used in contrast to the term subject This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Object" philosophy – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) An object is a philosophy term often used in contrast to the term subject. A subject is an observer and an object is a thing observed. For modern philosophers like Descartes, consciousness is a state of cognition that includes the subject—which can never be doubted as only it can be the one who doubts—and some object(s) that may be considered as not having real or full existence or value independent of the subject who observes it. Metaphysical frameworks also differ in whether they consider objects existing independently of their properties and, if so, in what way.[1] The pragmatist Charles S. Peirce defines the broad notion of an object as anything that we can think or talk about.[2] In a general sense it is any entity: the pyramids, Alpha Centauri, the number seven, a disbelief in predestination or the fear of cats. In a strict sense it refers to any definite being. A related notion is objecthood. Objecthood is the state of being an object. One approach to defining it is in terms of objects' properties and relations. Descriptions of all bodies, minds, and persons must be in terms of their properties and relations. The philosophical question of the nature of objecthood concerns how objects are related to their properties and relations. For example, it seems that the only way to describe an apple is by describing its properties and how it is related to other things. Its properties may include its redness, its size, and its composition, while its relations may include "on the table", "in the room" and "being bigger than other apples". The notion of an object must address two problems: the change problems and the problems of substances. Two leading theories about objecthood are substance theory, wherein substances (objects) are distinct from their properties, and bundle theory, wherein objects are no more than bundles of their properties. Contents 1 Etymology 2 Change 3 Problem of substance 4 Facts 5 Applications 5.1 Value theory 5.2 Physics 5.3 Semantics 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 External links Etymology[edit] In English the word object is derived from the Latin Objectus (p.p. of Obicere) with the meaning "to throw, or put before or against", from ob- and jacere, "to throw".[3] As such it is a root for several important words used to derive meaning, such as objectify (to materialize), objective (a future reference), and objectivism (a philosophical doctrine that knowledge is based on objective reality). Change[edit] An attribute of an object is called a property if it can be experienced (e.g. its color, size, weight, smell, taste, and location). Objects manifest themselves through their properties. These manifestations seem to change in a regular and unified way, suggesting that something underlies the properties. The change problem asks what that underlying thing is. According to substance theory, the answer is a substance, that which stands for the change. Problem of substance[edit] Main article: Substance theory Because substances are only experienced through their properties a substance itself is never directly experienced. The problem of substance asks on what basis can one conclude the existence of a substance that cannot be seen or scientifically verified. According to David Hume's bundle theory, the answer is none; thus an object is merely its properties. In the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna seizes the dichotomy between objects as collections of properties or as separate from those properties to demonstrate that both assertions fall apart under analysis. By uncovering this paradox he then provides a solution (pratītyasamutpāda – "dependent origination") that lies at the very root of Buddhist praxis. Although Pratītyasamutpāda is normally limited to caused objects, Nagarjuna extends his argument to objects in general by differentiating two distinct ideas – dependent designation and dependent origination. He proposes that all objects are dependent upon designation, and therefore any discussion regarding the nature of objects can only be made in light of the context. The validity of objects can only be established within those conventions that assert them.[4] Facts[edit] Bertrand Russell updated the classical terminology with one more term, the fact;[5] "Everything that there is in the world I call a fact." Facts, objects, are opposed to beliefs, which are "subjective" and may be errors on the part of the subject, the knower who is their source and who is certain of himself and little else. All doubt implies the possibility of error and therefore admits the distinction between subjectivity and objectivity. The knower is limited in ability to tell fact from belief, false from true objects and engages in reality testing, an activity that will result in more or less certainty regarding the reality of the object. According to Russell,[6] "we need a description of the fact which would make a given belief true" where "Truth is a property of beliefs." Knowledge is "true beliefs".[7] Applications[edit] Value theory[edit] Value theory concerns the value of objects. When it concerns economic value, it generally deals with physical objects. However, when concerning philosophic or ethic value, an object may be both a physical object and an abstract object (e.g. an action).[citation needed] Physics[edit] Limiting discussions of objecthood to the realm of physical objects may simplify them. However, defining physical objects in terms of fundamental particles (e.g. quarks) leaves open the question of what is the nature of a fundamental particle and thus asks what categories of being can be used to explain physical objects.[citation needed] Semantics[edit] Symbols represent objects; how they do so, the map–territory relation, is the basic problem of semantics.[8] See also[edit] Abstract object theory Abstraction Category theory Continuous predicate Concept Hypostatic abstraction Hypostasis (philosophy and religion) Noumenon and phenomenon Objectivity (philosophy) Observer (physics) Sign relation Ship of Theseus Object-oriented ontology Subject (grammar) Subject (philosophy) References[edit] ^ Goswick, Dana (27 July 2016). "Ordinary Objects". oxfordbibliographies. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195396577-0312. Retrieved 20 April 2020. ^ Peirce, Charles S. "Object". University of Helsinki. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2009-03-19. ^ Klein, Ernest (1969) A comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language, Vol II, Elsevier publishing company, Amsterdam, pp. 1066–1067 ^ MMK 24:18 ^ Russell 1948, p. 143. ^ Russell 1948, pp. 148–149. ^ Russell 1948, p. 154. ^ Dąmbska, Izydora (2016). "Symbols". Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences & the Humanities. 105: 201–209 – via Humanities Source. Sources[edit] Russell, Bertrand (1948). Human Knowledge Its Scope and Limits. New York: Simon and Schuster. External links[edit] Bradley Retter & Andrew M. Bailey. "Object". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Gideon Rosen. "Abstract objects". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Colin Smith. "Even More Abstract Objects". Crazy Objects And Their Affect On Reality. v t e Metaphysics Metaphysicians Parmenides Plato Aristotle Plotinus Duns Scotus Thomas Aquinas Francisco Suárez Nicolas Malebranche René Descartes John Locke David Hume Thomas Reid Immanuel Kant Isaac Newton Arthur Schopenhauer Baruch Spinoza Georg W. F. Hegel George Berkeley Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Christian Wolff Bernard Bolzano Hermann Lotze Henri Bergson Friedrich Nietzsche Charles Sanders Peirce Joseph Maréchal Ludwig Wittgenstein Martin Heidegger Alfred N. Whitehead Bertrand Russell G. E. Moore Jean-Paul Sartre Gilbert Ryle Hilary Putnam P. F. Strawson R. G. Collingwood Rudolf Carnap Saul Kripke W. V. O. Quine G. E. M. Anscombe Donald Davidson Michael Dummett D. M. Armstrong David Lewis Alvin Plantinga Héctor-Neri Castañeda Peter van Inwagen Derek Parfit Alexius Meinong Ernst Mally Edward N. Zalta more ... Theories Abstract object theory Action theory Anti-realism Determinism Dualism Enactivism Essentialism Existentialism Free will Idealism Libertarianism Liberty Materialism Meaning of life Monism Naturalism Nihilism Phenomenalism Realism Physicalism Platonic idealism Relativism Scientific realism Solipsism Subjectivism Substance theory Truthmaker theory Type theory Concepts Abstract object Anima mundi Being Category of being Causality Causal closure Choice Cogito, ergo sum Concept Embodied cognition Essence Existence Experience Hypostatic abstraction Idea Identity Information Insight Intelligence Intention Linguistic modality Matter Meaning Memetics Mental representation Mind Motion Nature Necessity Notion Object Pattern Perception Physical object Principle Property Qualia Quality Reality Relation Soul Subject Substantial form Thought Time Truth Type–token distinction Universal Unobservable Value more ... Related topics Axiology Cosmology Epistemology Feminist metaphysics Interpretations of quantum mechanics Mereology Meta- Ontology Philosophy of mind Philosophy of psychology Philosophy of self Philosophy of space and time Teleology Theoretical physics Category  Philosophy portal Authority control GND: 4172302-8 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Object_(philosophy)&oldid=996414713" Categories: Objects Concepts in metaphysics Concepts in epistemology Dichotomies Epistemology Metaphysics Ontology Physical objects Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from February 2009 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from July 2012 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge 한국어 Italiano Қазақша Kreyòl ayisyen Lietuvių Malti Nāhuatl Nederlands 日本語 Norsk bokmål Oʻzbekcha/ўзбекча Polski Português Română Русский Shqip کوردی Suomi Татарча/tatarça Türkçe Українська ייִדיש 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 December 2020, at 13:27 (UTC). 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