TOK essay Prompt 1
Objectivity
Subjectivity
Lack of bias, judgement or prejudice
Judgement is shaped by personal feelings or opinions
Subjectivity in art
Open to interpretation
Creative Expression/Ambiguous
Biases present in the creator of art
Subjectivity in History
History is written by the winners
A lot of visual evidence for history is based on paintings
Religious beliefs/cultural differences
Objectivity in art
Objectivity in History
Photographs of major historical events
Elements of truth
Relies on fact and evidence
Cannot be open to interpretation
Single, true version of history
Why is subjectivity celebrated in the arts
Why is subjectivity unfairly condemned in history
There are multiple contradictory accounts to historical sources
Subjectivity focuses on biases and judgements which doesn't work in an evidence based field
There's no "right answer" when it comes to art
Art is appreciated because it is pleasing to the eye
Art doesn't have any boundaries and can be appreciated even by someone who isn't the intended audience
It's very hard to achieve total objectivity in history as many sources are one-sided