Beyond Values: The Introduction of Subjectivity and Its Use in Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

Within the philosophical literature, there has been a trend to discuss subjectivity, and its impacts on science, from the perspective of value judgments. While this discussion is necessary and has proven to be fruitful, I contend that the type of subjectivity referenced in this discussion extends beyond the use of values. In this paper, I argue that the type of subjectivity of concern in this literature is regarding some personal aspect of the individual and the use of this aspect in addressing the uncertainty present within scientific decision-making contexts. I begin by arguing that, while it is not explicitly stated, the current discussions of this subjectivity within the literature actually focus on instances of normative uncertainty present within these decision-making contexts, where I claim that values are used to address this uncertainty. In this way, I identify a connection between the use of values in science and the presence of normative uncertainty. However, other forms of uncertainty are also present in scientific decision-making contexts, modal and empirical uncertainty, which must also be addressed. Using examples from climate science, I show how these uncertainties are addressed by other means, specifically through a scientist’s tacit knowledge and intuition. Subsequently, tacit knowledge and intuition are shown to maintain the same type of subjectivity as value judgments, where the use of this subjectivity is a necessary part of decision-making. In this way, I highlight additional vehicles of subjectivity and novel contexts of uncertainty where this subjectivity can be introduced into science. Thus, when someone recognizes the type of subjectivity, which is historically only associated with values, to be present in science they should no longer assume that the introduction was due to a value judgment. Ultimately, I conclude by discussing these other vehicles of subjectivity and their impact on epistemic reliability.