17/04/2026
What happens when we try to see the world “objectively”?
Trying to be objective can make us more just and considerate of others' perspectives, but it can also make us lose touch with what matters.
In this recent Annual Philosophy Lecture for Philosophy Sharing Malta , Philosophy Now Founder Rick Lewis explores a tension at the heart of philosophical thinking: what happens when we step back from our own point of view in the name of objectivity? (And is that even possible?)
In The Third Man, Orson Welles' character looks down from above and sees people as mere dots. His indifference underpins decisions that cost lives - in exchange for profit. From that distance, the moral weight seems to disappear.
Lewis challenges that detachment and argues that striving for objectivity is about enlarging human perspective rather than abandoning it.
The full lecture - What Is A Point of View? - ranges across ethics, consciousness, time, free will, and knowledge, drawing on Thomas Nagel, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Robert Nozick to explore how subjective and objective viewpoints can conflict, and how they might be reconciled.
Full lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZHJsWm2Zx8
Edited recording courtesy of Philosophy Sharing Malta