the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable)
<noun.cognition> the sole object of her trip was to see her children
the lens or system of lenses in a telescope or microscope that is nearest the object being viewed
<noun.artifact> [ adj ]
undistorted by emotion or personal bias; based on observable phenomena
<adj.all> an objective appraisal objective evidence
serving as or indicating the object of a verb or of certain prepositions and used for certain other purposes
<adj.pert> objective case accusative endings
emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation
<adj.all> objective art
belonging to immediate experience of actual things or events
<adj.all> objective benefits an objective example there is no objective evidence of anything of the kind
Objective \Ob*jec"tive\ ([o^]b*j[e^]k"t[i^]v), a. [Cf. F. objectif.] 1. Of or pertaining to an object.
2. (Metaph.) Of or pertaining to an object; contained in, or having the nature or position of, an object; outward; external; extrinsic; -- an epithet applied to whatever is exterior to the mind, or which is simply an object of thought or feeling, as opposed to being related to thoughts of feelings, and opposed to {subjective}. [1913 Webster +PJC]
In the Middle Ages, subject meant substance, and has this sense in Descartes and Spinoza: sometimes, also, in Reid. Subjective is used by William of Occam to denote that which exists independent of mind; objective, what is formed by the mind. This shows what is meant by realitas objectiva in Descartes. Kant and Fichte have inverted the meanings. Subject, with them, is the mind which knows; object, that which is known; subjective, the varying conditions of the knowing mind; objective, that which is in the constant nature of the thing known. --Trendelenburg.
Objective has come to mean that which has independent existence or authority, apart from our experience or thought. Thus, moral law is said to have objective authority, that is, authority belonging to itself, and not drawn from anything in our nature. --Calderwood (Fleming's Vocabulary).
3. Hence: Unbiased; unprejudiced; fair; uninfluenced by personal feelings or personal interests; considering only the facts of a situation unrelated to the observer; -- of judgments, opinions, evaluations, conclusions, reasoning processes. [PJC]
Objective means that which belongs to, or proceeds from, the object known, and not from the subject knowing, and thus denotes what is real, in opposition to that which is ideal -- what exists in nature, in contrast to what exists merely in the thought of the individual. --Sir. W. Hamilton.
4. (Gram.) Pertaining to, or designating, the case which follows a transitive verb or a preposition, being that case in which the direct object of the verb is placed. See {Accusative}, n.
Note: The objective case is frequently used without a governing word, esp. in designations of time or space, where a preposition, as at, in, on, etc., may be supplied.
My troublous dream [on] this night doth make me sad. --Shak.
To write of victories [in or for] next year. --Hudibras.
{Objective line} (Perspective), a line drawn on the geometrical plane which is represented or sought to be represented.
{Objective plane} (Perspective), any plane in the horizontal plane that is represented.
{Objective point}, the point or result to which the operations of an army are directed. By extension, the point or purpose to which anything, as a journey or an argument, is directed.
Syn: {Objective}, {Subjective}.
Usage: Objective is applied to things exterior to the mind, and objects of its attention; subjective, to the operations of the mind itself. Hence, an objective motive is some outward thing awakening desire; a subjective motive is some internal feeling or propensity. Objective views are those governed by outward things; subjective views are produced or modified by internal feeling. Sir Walter Scott's poetry is chiefly objective; that of Wordsworth is eminently subjective.
In the philosophy of mind, subjective denotes what is to be referred to the thinking subject, the ego; objective what belongs to the object of thought, the non-ego. --Sir. W. Hamilton
Objective \Ob*jec"tive\, n. 1. (Gram.) The objective case.
2. An {object glass}; called also {objective lens}. See under {Object}, n.
3. Same as {Objective point}, under {Objective}, a.
Object \Ob"ject\ ([o^]b"j[e^]kt), n. [L. objectus. See {Object}, v. t.] 1. That which is put, or which may be regarded as put, in the way of some of the senses; something visible or tangible and persists for an appreciable time; as, he observed an object in the distance; all the objects in sight; he touched a strange object in the dark.
2. Anything which is set, or which may be regarded as set, before the mind so as to be apprehended or known; that of which the mind by any of its activities takes cognizance, whether a thing external in space or a conception formed by the mind itself; as, an object of knowledge, wonder, fear, thought, study, etc.
Object is a term for that about which the knowing subject is conversant; what the schoolmen have styled the ``materia circa quam.'' --Sir. W. Hamilton.
The object of their bitterest hatred. --Macaulay.
3. That toward which the mind, or any of its activities, is directed; that on which the purpose are fixed as the end of action or effort; that which is sought for; goal; end; aim; motive; final cause.
Object, beside its proper signification, came to be abusively applied to denote motive, end, final cause . . . . This innovation was probably borrowed from the French. --Sir. W. Hamilton.
Let our object be, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. --D. Webster.
He, advancing close Up to the lake, past all the rest, arose In glorious object. --Chapman.
5. (Gram.) A word, phrase, or clause toward which an action is directed, or is considered to be directed; as, the object of a transitive verb.
6. (Computers) Any set of data that is or can be manipulated or referenced by a computer program as a single entity; -- the term may be used broadly, to include files, images (such as icons on the screen), or small data structures. More narrowly, anything defined as an object within an object-oriented programming language. [PJC]
7. (Ontology) Anything which exists and which has attributes; distinguished from {attributes}, {processes}, and {relations}. [PJC]
{Object glass}, the lens, or system of lenses, placed at the end of a telescope, microscope, etc., which is toward the object. Its function is to form an image of the object, which is then viewed by the eyepiece. Called also {objective} or {objective lens}. See Illust. of {Microscope}.
{Object lesson}, a lesson in which object teaching is made use of.
{Object staff}. (Leveling) Same as {Leveling staff}.
{Object teaching}, a method of instruction, in which illustrative objects are employed, each new word or idea being accompanied by a representation of that which it signifies; -- used especially in the kindergarten, for young children.
Negotiations began in 1986 with the objective of liberalizing trade in goods and services.
Both General Motors Corp. and Chrysler have made union approval of three-shift production a major objective of their current national contract negotiations with the UAW.
But late last year, shareholders voted to change the fund's investment objective, so that it also could invest in bankruptcies and distressed securities.
Here you have integration and negotiation with one nation so you have a much higher objective and some added issues and risks.
Now the U.S. Hot Rod Association says it will "conduct its own independent, objective test" Friday using Bearfoot, the truck used in the ads.
"Our friends in Europe consider that an unrealistic objective, but we fail to comprehend why that should be construed as such," Yeutter told a news conference.
A 25% basic tax rate remains his "firm objective," Mr. Lawson said.
Mr Morrison said the long-term objective was to become a quoted group 'in some shape or form' but there were no current plans to do so. 'We will react to the right opportunity when it comes along,' he said.
The objective is to avoid the type of snafu that forced Dukakis out of prime time in 1984, the first year the three networks passed up gavel-to-gavel coverage in favor of an abbreviated approach.
Advancing that task beyond any particular time frame is the objective of the International Congress on World Evangelization, which is meeting Tuesday through July 20 in Manila, the Philippines.
Our object is peace and we will be talking to the PLO as to others in an effort to move things along toward that objective.
A major objective of the profit-sharing plan was the perpetuation of employee ownership, the appellate court said, adding that the law does not set an exclusive goal of maximizing benefits.
Glosser said the objective is to obtain needed research in support of the agency's regulatory programs.
With a four-year-old daughter to support on her own, she took the job with a definite objective in mind: to use her good looks to make big bucks that she would then plow into the market.
"Despite having shown considerable initiative in her duties, she has to bear objective responsibility for the situation" in Kosovo, said a statement by Kosovo's leadership, carried by Tanjug.
Moreover, it has done it in a sneaky way, pretending that its main objective was to help companies rather than raise revenue. Now, the pensions industry has decided that fire must be returned against the snipers.
But Mr Robert Baker, senior consultant at Mercer Fraser, believes the underlying investment objectives are very similar in many cases. He says: 'The objective of most money purchase schemes is likely to be to beat the median.
It said it will look at opportunities in brewing, property and energy resources to the extent consistent with the dominant objective of manageable debt-to-assets ratios.
"Traders were looking at 160.40 yen as a medium term objective over the next few weeks.
They have taken large advertisements in tomorrow's Scottish Sunday papers. Weir says that there has been so much propaganda 'of a biased and populist kind' on the future of Scotland that objective discussion has been almost impossible.
"Although this does not represent a final decision, we are confident that the clear merits of our case will speak for themselves in an objective review by the department," said Chuck Novak, a spokesman for Chicago-based United.
Kampelman also said President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, the program for a space-based missile defense opposed by the Soviets, remains a "serious" objective and is not a bargaining chip at Geneva.
It also alleged he is being selectively prosecuted for political reasons and that pre-trial publicity will make it impossible to find an objective jury.
Then-Education Minister Mikhail A. Prokofiev said the objective was to double enrollment in technical institutes.
Neutrality has as its objective a system that does not distort the workings of market forces or discriminate against specific groups. But would Labour's plans do more, and actually damage the UK economy?
"We pursue the fundamental objective: whether man is alive or dead after the flight.
The company was willing to compromise public safety to achieve its economic objective." The union, meanwhile, "waged what amounted to a campaign of intimidation against the carrier and its replacement employees," the report said.
The government said the Eritrean rebels' main objective appeared to be the capture of Massawa, the largest of only two ports on Ethiopia's Red Sea coast.
The objective now is to open the economy by stimulating the supply side to increase revenue.
Following the union rejection of the latest proposal, the Chamber of Mines, which represents South Africa's six major mining houses, said, "Mine management will now be pursuing the objective of getting their mines back to normal production."