Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 91 of 171
Ontologically subjective yet epistemically objective
Searle states, “Observer relativity implies ontological subjectivity but ontological subjectivity does not preclude epistemic objectivity.” To translate this into English: the existence of things that exist only because we believe them to exist does not mean that these things cannot be objective. Money is a perfect example. It only exists because we believe it does, but nevertheless it has an objective truth. Mathematics, like language, is observer-relative: its mode of existence is ontologically subjective in that it depends on conscious agents for its existence. But mathematics has epistemically objective truths. To break this down, when we talk about observer-relative phenomena like money, this implies that money only exists as a subjective belief in individuals. But Searle argues that this does not prevent there from being epistemically objective facts about…