Sunday, March 28, 2010

Object versus Subject

Object: 1 a material thing that can be seen and touched. 2 a person or thing to which an action or feeling is directed. 3 a goal or purpose.
Objective: 1 not influenced by personal feelings or opinions. 2 not dependent on the mind for existence also Objectivity
Objectify: 1 express (something abstract) in a concrete form. 2 degrade to the status of an object also Objectification

Subject: 1 a person or thing that is being discussed, studied, or dealt with. 2 a branch of knowledge studied or taught. 3 Philosophy a thinking or feeling entity; the conscious mind or ego. (subject to) 1 likely or prone to be affected by (something bad). 2 dependent or conditional upon. 3 under the control or authority of. bring under one’s control or jurisdiction. also Subjection
Subjective: 1 based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. 2 dependent on the mind for existence also Subjectively

(where is subjectify?)

Now, think about how we use these words, in what context, their meanings, and what we are really saying about what is good and bad...
Now, tell me what do you think?

(thanks Oxford English Dictionary)

2 comments:

finamacDonell said...

i'm thinking, i'm thinking! i'm thinking - why can't we touch a subject or discuss an object? What does sentence structure have to do with the structure of reality?

I'll think some more later . . .

Brie said...

A subject could be a participant in an experiment, then you could touch them. Can we discuss an object?