Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:26:52 +0000
Subject: Re: PKF: When Harry Met Sandra


Jeff Dalton wrote:
> John Fox wrote:
> 
> > It seems to me that Harding's comments on the cultural embeddedness
> > of claims, that there can be objective claims but not value-neutral ones,
> > and that a wider picture can generally be drawn if one approaches
> > things as well from other value-perspectives, are all simply correct.
> 
> I don't think I understand what people have in mind when saying
> facts can be objective but not value-neutral.  It's hard to give
> examples without sounding like a "naive realist" or some other
> supposedly discredited beast, but, anyway, I don't "get it".

I don't know what they have in mind, but one possibility has to
do with the selection process.  Suppose we have facts A, B and
C which are all objective; but we bring attention to only A
and B, ignoring C.  That choice of what to present, and perhaps
what to link together, is probably not value-neutral (though it
might well be unwitting).

-- 

chris.holt-AT-ncl.ac.uk     http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~chris.holt/

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