Construct · 2 fields · 5 citations

Where does objective collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, two constructs Nearest construct by meaningsolutioncompare the meanings
How to read this

Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to objective is solution.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

objective2 CONSTRUCTSObjective (philos.)KANT · MIND-INDEPENDENTObjective functionKANTOROVICH · OBJECTIVE FN

Spokes are fields; dashed arcs are shared lineage. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

1781Objective (philos.)1939Objective function
2026

Drag to watch the word get claimed. Each field appears at the publication date of the earliest source cited for it. Tap a year to see which.

Philosophy

That which is mind-independent

In philosophy the objective is that which holds independently of any particular mind, what would be true whether or not anyone perceived or believed it, set against the subjective, which belongs to a single point of view. Kant's 1781 Critique of Pure Reason gave the modern contrast its critical form, tying objective validity to conditions that hold for every rational knower rather than to private impression; the word had earlier carried a scholastic meaning that was nearly the reverse, existing only as an object before the mind, a flip that Daston and Galison's 2007 Objectivity traces across the nineteenth century. Nagel's 1986 The View from Nowhere is the seminal modern treatment, casting objectivity as the attempt to describe the world from no particular location within it. Here the referent is a status a claim or a property can have, mind-independence, not a lens in an instrument or a quantity a calculation tries to make as large or as small as possible.[1][2][3]

Unit
A status a claim, judgment, or property can hold: independence from any particular mind
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Argued for philosophically rather than measured; assessed by whether a claim's truth depends on a particular point of view

Mathematical optimization

The quantity a program maximizes or minimizes

In mathematical optimization the objective, or objective function, is the single quantity a problem is set up to make as large or as small as possible, such as a cost to minimize or a profit to maximize, subject to constraints. Kantorovich's 1939 work on planning production, later translated as Mathematical Methods of Organizing and Planning Production, introduced the linear-programming problem of optimizing such a quantity, and Dantzig's 1963 Linear Programming and Extensions gave the simplex method that solves it and fixed the term objective function in wide use. The referent is a function chosen by the modeler and evaluated at candidate solutions, not a lens in an instrument or a claim's independence from any mind.[4][5]

Unit
A scalar-valued function of the decision variables, in the problem's own units (cost, profit, distance)
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Evaluated at a candidate solution and optimized numerically, for example by the simplex method

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how objective sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this collision

Nearby collisions

aberration4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, four constructscost4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, four constructsground4 fields · 7 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Kant, I. (1998). Critique of pure reason (P. Guyer & A. W. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781)
  2. Nagel, T. (1986). The view from nowhere. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195036688
  3. Daston, L., & Galison, P. (2007). Objectivity. Zone Books.
  4. Kantorovich, L. V. (1960). Mathematical methods of organizing and planning production. Management Science, 6(4), 366–422. (Original work published 1939) https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.6.4.366
  5. Dantzig, G. B. (1963). Linear programming and extensions. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691080000

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct