Not about Objectivity-A Note on Cultural Studies Perspectives

藉由譬喻與邏輯推論，本文嘗試以文化研究立場回應社會科學的「客觀性」概念。文章指出，研究對象之所以成為可識別的觀察對象，首先必須具備時間與空間上的延續性與斷裂性，而這種延續性的斷裂必須通過符號，才能為研究者所認知。但是符號的使用與產生，涉及學習，而學習隱含了社會目的，社會目的影響接收符號的觀測工具，並且賦予每一項符號某種具有情感性質的記憶，因此導致主觀與客觀之間無法區隔，研究者與研究對象的相互構成，以致於不能符合社會科學對於主客觀二元對立的知識假設。This paper is a cultural studies critique of objectivism. It confronts the mainstream social science on the issue of objectivity. Through analogy and deduction, the paper denies the existence of any research target to be completely unrelated to the researchers or their research activities. Researchers identify their research targets because these targets extend themselves in time and space but separate abruptly from their surroundings. Extension and abruption are observable through the creation and use of symbols, which involve social learning. Learning is a matter of social purpose, which injects affect into the memory of symbol. Consequently, researchers and their targets are mutually constituted in the knowledge concerning social reality