Chapter 2. “I Already Think For Myself”: Being A Critical Thinker
§4 Technical Fundamentals
Objective vs. Subjective
A vital skill in critical thinking is distinguishing between claims that describe the world as it is (objective) and claims that describe how we feel or think about the world (subjective). This distinction helps us determine which claims require external evidence and which are simply matters of personal preference.
4.1 Statement Types
Subjective Statements
A statement is subjective if its truth depends entirely on what an individual thinks, feels, or prefers. In these cases, “if you think it’s true, it’s true for you.” Because they are internal states, you generally cannot be “mistaken” about your own subjective experience.
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Examples:
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“Rice vinegar tastes better than white vinegar.”
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“This class is challenging!”
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“That movie scared me.”
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“Hillary is lots of fun.”
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Objective Statements
An objective statement’s truth is independent of what you or anyone else thinks about it. It depends on impartial facts or the way the world actually is. An objective statement can be true even if everyone believes it is false, or false even if everyone believes it is true.
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Examples:
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“White vinegar removes lipstick stains; rice vinegar does not.”
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“There are over 300 students in this class.”
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“The Dow Jones went up yesterday.”
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“There is life on Mars.” (Even if we don’t know the answer yet, the truth is objective).
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4.2 Value Judgments
A value judgment assesses the merit, praiseworthiness, or desirability of someone or something. It doesn’t just describe a fact; it assigns a “value” to that fact.
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How to Tell: Look for “judgment indicator” words like best, worst, wrong, right, should, superior, or too.
| Matters of Fact (Objective) | Value Judgments |
| “Susan cheated on the final.” | “It was wrong for Susan to cheat.” |
| “Driving solo in the car-pool lane is illegal.” | “Driving solo in the car-pool lane is wrong.” |
| “That kid looks like his brother.” | “That kid is better looking than his brother.” |
| “Secretary Rice is tall and thin.” | “Secretary Rice is too tall and thin.” |
4.3 Moral vs. Non-Moral Value Judgments
Not all value judgments are about right and wrong. We divide them into two categories:
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Non-Moral Value Judgments: These assess merit, taste, or aesthetics without ethical weight.
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Example: “Miller tastes great!” or “That was the best Super Bowl ever.”
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Moral Value Judgments: These assign ethical or moral values to actions or people.
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Example: “Stealing is wrong” or “You should treat your brother better.”
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4.4 The $64,000 Question: Are Moral Judgments Subjective?
This is a central debate in philosophy. If someone believes that “torturing dogs is fun and acceptable,” is that just their “subjective truth”?
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The Subjectivist View: If they think it isn’t bad, then it isn’t bad (for them). This leads to the Subjectivist Fallacy, which implies that no one can ever be “wrong” about their moral beliefs.
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The Objective View: If someone thinks torturing dogs is okay, their understanding of good and bad is simply messed up or incorrect. This view implies that there are moral facts independent of personal opinion.
Case Study: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
When we look at practices like FGM, there is often universal condemnation.
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If we say, “It isn’t wrong for them because their society believes in it,” we are practicing Social Relativism.
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If we say, “It is wrong regardless of what that society thinks,” we are arguing that moral truths are Objective.
As we saw in Section 3, the problem with Relativism (subjective or social) is that it makes it impossible to criticize any behavior, no matter how harmful, as long as the person or group “believes” it is right. Critical thinking encourages us to move beyond “true for me” and look for reasons that can be justified to anyone.
