Re: Apple Computer changes its name

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <1168960942.362615.50000@11g2000cwr.googlegroups.com>,
mdj <mdj.mdj@gmail.com> wrote:

> Paul Schlyter wrote:
> 
>>>> And how does one determine whether it's "right" or not?
>>>>
>>>> One can't, at least not in an objective way -- it's a matter of personal
>>>> opinion.
>>>
>>> Hmm :-) At the risk of sounding somewhat militant, I'll point out that
>>> declaring objectivity unobtainable is a technique generally used by
>>> those with a less defensible position, in order to create the illusion
>>> that theirs has equal merit since both positions are 'subjective'.
>>
>> Are you saying that my position is "less defendable"?  If so, say it
>> explicitly, please, giving your reasons for your opinion!  If not,
>> don't make this comparison at all.
> 
> Sorry Paul - my intent was not to imply that your position is less
> defendable, just that I strongly disagree that differing perspectives
> on the topic (and indeed most!) cannot be compared objectively.

Differing perspectives on this topic cannot be compared objectively - why?
Because any judgement of what perspective is "best" will by necessity
contain subjective value judgements.  I'm not saying this is bad.
I'm merely saying it's not an objective comparison.

Objectively, you can say things like "media files locked in by DRM
cannot be passed freely along" or "....cannot as easily be played on
players not containing the proper key as they can on a player with the
proper key".  This far it's an objective comparison.  But if you're
going to tell whether DRM is "good" or "bad", well that judgement will
depend on who you are and what you want - therefore it's not an
objective judgement.

I'm not saying it's wrong, or bad, to be subjective.  Sometimes (actually
quite often) we have to be subjective.  But I do think one should carefully
distinguish subjective judgement from objective comparisons.  An objective
comparison is something people can agree upon, even if they have widely
different opioions (assuming a basic honesty on both parts, of course),
while a subjective judgement is something people frequently disagree on.

Even an opinion where there's a very wide agreement can be subjective,
e.g. the opinion "it was wrong, and extremely bad, of Hitler to kill
millions of jews".  I wholeheartedly agree with that opinion, of
course, but I also recognise it's a subjective value judgement.

-- 
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