I was able to preach at my church recently and I mentioned something that I have received a number of questions about. I made a comment that we live in a society and culture that operates with a subjective and relativistic approach to life and morals. But what does that even mean?
I had hoped my comment would have been easily understood, and I think it was for the most part. But the questions that came to me were ones of inquiry. Many simply wanted to know the difference between an objective standard and a subjective one. And how does preference and relativity play into that?
To understand subjectivity you might need to have a basic understanding of what objectivity is. To be objective is to be uninfluenced by opinion, preference, or emotions. Supposedly, Judges are to be objective, teachers are to be objective in their grading, and umpires are expected to be objective in their umpiring. That is to say, Judges - whether for the Olympics or in Law - are expected to make judgments from the actual performance uninfluenced by their personal opinions, preferences, and emotions related to the athlete and/or their country of origin. In Law, the Judge is expected to rule based on the facts and not on hunches, feelings, opinion, or personal vendettas. In these cases objectivity is an adjective - something that modifies a noun.
Another way to look at objectivity is to
