Point of view (philosophy)

Concept of personal perspective in philosophy

In philosophy, a point of view is a specific attitude or manner through which a person thinks about something.[1] This figurative usage of the expression dates back to 1730.[1] In this meaning, the usage is synonymous with one of the meanings of the term perspective[2][3] (also epistemic perspective).[4]

The concept of the "point of view" is highly multifunctional and ambiguous. Many things may be judged from certain personal, traditional or moral points of view (as in "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"). Our knowledge about reality is often relative to a certain point of view.[2]

Vázquez Campos and Manuel Liz Gutierrez suggested to analyse the concept of "point of view" using two approaches: one based on the concept of "propositional attitudes", the other on the concepts of "location" and "access".[5]

## Analysis

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Margarita Vázquez Campos and Antonio Manuel Liz Gutiérrez in their work, "The Notion of Point of View", give a comprehensive analysis of the structure of the concept. They point out that despite being crucial in many discourses, the notion has not been adequately analyzed, though some important works do exist.[2] They mention that early classical Greek philosophers, starting from Parmenides and Heraclitus discussed the relation between "appearance" and reality, i.e., how our points of view are connected with reality.[6] They specifically point out Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. They consider Wittgenstein's theory of "pictures" or "models" (Wittgenstein used the German word Bild, which means both "picture" and "model") as an illustration of the relationship between points of view and reality.[7]

### Propositional attitudes

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The internal structure of a point of view may be analysed similarly to the concept of a propositional attitude. A propositional attitude is an attitude, i.e., a mental state held by an agent toward a proposition. Examples of such attitudes are "to believe in something", "to desire something", "to guess something", "to remember something", etc. Vazques Campos and Gutierrez suggest that points of view may be analyzed as structured sets of propositional attitudes.[8] The authors draw on Christopher Peacocke's Sense and Content.[3]

Within this approach one may carry out ontological classification of various distinctions, such as individual vs. collective points of view, personal vs. non-personal, non-conceptual vs. conceptual, etc.[3]

### Location and access

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See also: Privileged access

Whereas propositional attitudes approach to analyze points of view internally, the "location/access" approach analyzes points of view externally, by their role. The term "access" refers to the statement of Liz Gutierrez that "points of views, or perspectives, are ways of having access to the world and to ourselves", and the term "location" is in reference to the provided quotation of Jon Moline that points of view are "ways of viewing things and events from certain locations". Moline rejects the notion that points of view are reducible to some rules based on some theories, maxims or dogmas. Moline considers the concept of "location" in two ways: in a direct way as a vantage point, and in an extended way, the way how a given vantage point provides a perspective, i.e., influences the perception.[9]

This approach may address epistemological issues, such as relativism, existence of the absolute point of view, compatibility of points of view (including "faultless disagreement"), possibility of a point of view without a bearer, etc.[3]

## See also

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* Anekantavada – Jain doctrine of many-sidedness
* Paradigm – Set of distinct concepts or thought patterns
* Perspectivism – Philosophical principle that perspectives and epistemology are always linked
* Reality tunnel – Theory of personal perception
* Umwelt – The world as it appears through a species's perceptual systems
* Worldview – Fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society
* Value system – Personal value, basis for ethical actionPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

## Notes

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1. ^ a b "Point of View". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House Inc. 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
2. ^ a b c Campos, Gutiérrez, p. 2
3. ^ a b c d Manuel Liz & Margarita Vázquez, "Two approaches to the notion of Point of View", extended abstract for: 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science Archived 2015-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, July 19–26, 2011 (retrieved August 31, 2015)
4. ^ Clayton Littlejohn, John Turri (eds.), Epistemic Norms: New Essays on Action, Belief, and Assertion, Oxford University Press, 2014, p. 220.
5. ^ Manuel Liz, p. 110
6. ^ Campos-Gutiérrez, p. 7
7. ^ Campos, Gutiérrez, p. 14
8. ^ Campos, Gutiérrez, p. 17
9. ^ Moline, Jon, "On Points of View", American Philosophical Quarterly, 1968, vol. 5, 191–298. (as cited by Manuel Liz)

## References

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* Margarita Vázquez Campos, Antonio Manuel Liz Gutiérrez, "The Notion of Point of View", in: Temporal Points of View: Subjective and Objective Aspects, Springer, 2015, ISBN 3319198157
* Manuel Liz, "Models and Points of View: The Analysis of the Notion of Point of View", in: Lorenzo Magnani (ed.), Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology: Theoretical and Cognitive Issues, Springer Science & Business Media, 2013, ISBN 364237428X

## Further reading

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* Moore, A., Points of View, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997

## External links

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* Media related to Point of view (philosophy) at Wikimedia Commons
* Quotations related to Point of view (philosophy) at Wikiquote

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Worldview

Related terms

* Basic beliefs / Beliefs
* Collective consciousness / Collective unconscious
* Conceptual system
* Context
* Conventional wisdom
* Conventions
* Cultural movement
* Epic poetry / National epics / World folk-epics
* Facts and factoids
* Framing
* Ideology
* Life stance
* Lifestyle
* Memes / Memeplex
* Mental model
* Metanarrative
* Mindset
* Norms
* Paradigm
* Philosophical theory
* Point of view
* Presuppositions
* Primal world beliefs
* Reality tunnel
* Schemata
* School of thought
* Set
* Social reality
* Theory of everything
* Umwelt
* Value system

Aspects

| Biases|

* Academic
* Attentional
* Attitude polarization
* Belief
* Cognitive
* list
* Collective narcissism
* Confirmation
* Congruence
* Cryptomnesia
* Cultural
* Ethnocentrism
* Filter bubble
* Homophily
* In-group favoritism
* Magical thinking
* Media
* Observational error
* Observer-expectancy
* Selective exposure
* Selective perception
* Self-deception
* Self-fulfilling prophecy
* Clever Hans effect
* placebo effect
* wishful thinking
* Status quo
* Stereotyping
* ethnic

|

Change and
maintenance|

* Activism
* Argument
* Argumentum ad populum
* Attitude change
* Brainwashing
* Censorship
* Charisma
* Circular reporting
* Cognitive dissonance
* Critical thinking
* Crowd manipulation
* Cultural dissonance
* Deprogramming
* Echo chamber
* Education
* religious
* values
* Euphemism
* Excommunication
* Fearmongering
* Historical revisionism
* negationism
* Ideological repression
* Indoctrination
* Manipulation (psychology)
* Media manipulation
* Media regulation
* Missionaries
* Moral entrepreneurship
* Persuasion
* Polite fiction
* Political engineering
* Propaganda
* Propaganda model
* Proselytism
* Psychological warfare
* Religious conversion
* forced
* Religious persecution
* Religious uniformity
* Revolutions
* Rhetoric
* Self-censorship
* Social change
* Social control
* Social engineering
* Social influence
* Social progress
* Suppression of dissent
* Systemic bias
* Woozle effect

Culture|

* Anthropology
* cultural
* social
* Calendars
* Ceremonies
* Coronations
* Cross-cultural psychology
* Cultural psychology
* Doctrine
* Employment / Serfdom / Slavery
* Families
* Funerals / Burial
* Games
* Holidays
* Hygiene
* ritual
* Identity (philosophy)
* cultural
* Institutions
* Liminality
* Liturgy
* Marriage
* Myth and ritual
* Oaths
* Pilgrimages
* Play
* Rites of passage
* secular
* Rituals
* Social class / Social status / Caste
* Symbols
* Symbolic boundaries
* Worship

Groupthink|

* Abilene paradox
* Bandwagon effect
* Collectives
* Collective behavior
* animal
* Collective effervescence
* Collective intelligence
* Conformity
* Consensus theory
* Crowd psychology
* Cults
* Culture-bound syndromes
* Deindividuation
* Doublethink
* Emergence
* Emotional contagion
* Entitativity
* False consensus effect
* Folie à deux
* Group action
* Group cohesiveness
* Group dynamics
* Group emotion
* Group polarization
* Groupshift
* Herd behavior
* Holism
* Hysterical contagion
* Information cascade
* In-group and out-group
* Invisible hand
* Lynching
* Majoritarianism / Mob rule
* Mass action
* Mass psychogenic illness
* Milieu control
* Mobbing
* Moral panic
* Peer pressure
* Pluralistic ignorance
* Political correctness
* Pseudoconsensus
* Scapegoating
* Self-organization
* Social action
* Social behavior
* Social emotions
* Social exclusion
* Social facilitation
* animal
* Social group
* Social proof
* Social psychology
* Sociology
* Spontaneous order
* Status quo
* Stigmergy
* Swarm behaviour
* System justification
* Viral phenomena

Knowledge|

* Axioms
* tacit assumptions
* Conceptual framework
* Epistemology
* outline
* Evidence
* anecdotal
* scientific
* Explanations
* Faith
* fideism
* Gnosis
* Intuition
* Meaning-making
* Memory
* Meta-knowledge
* Methodology
* Observation
* Observational learning
* Perception
* Reasoning
* fallacious
* logic
* Revelation
* Testimony
* Tradition
* folklore
* Truth
* consensus theory
* criteria
* World disclosure

Metaphysics|

* Ætiology
* Afterlife
* Anima mundi
* Causality
* Concepts
* Consciousness
* mind–body problem
* Cosmogony
* Cosmology
* religious
* Creation myth
* Deities
* existence
* Destiny
* Eschatology
* Everything / Nothing
* Evolution
* Existence
* Fiction / Nonfiction
* Free will
* Future
* History
* Ideas
* Idios kosmos
* Illusions
* Incarnation
* Information
* Intelligence
* Magic
* Matter
* Miracles
* Mythology
* comparative
* National mythoi
* Nature
* philosophical
* Ontology
* Origin myths
* political
* Otherworlds
* axes mundi
* Physics
* natural philosophy
* Problem of evil
* Reality
* Souls
* Spirit
* Supernature
* Teleology
* Theology
* Time
* Unobservables

Value|

* Aesthetic taste
* Aesthetic
* Almsgiving / Charity
* Altruism
* Autonomy
* Beauty
* Codes of conduct
* Comedy
* Common good
* Conscience
* Consent
* Creativity
* Disgust
* Duty
* Economics
* Ecstasy
* emotional
* religious
* Elegance
* Emotions
* Aesthetic
* Entertainment
* Eroticism
* Ethics
* Étiquette
* Family values
* Food and drink prohibitions
* unclean animals
* Golden Rule
* Guilt / Culpability
* Happiness
* Harmony
* Honour
* Human rights
* Judgement
* Justice
* Law
* jurisprudence
* religious
* Liberty
* political freedom
* Love
* Magnificence
* Maxims
* Meaning of life
* Morality
* public
* Obligations
* Peace
* Piety
* Praxeology
* Principles
* Punishment
* Qualities
* Repentance
* Reverence
* Rights
* Sexuality
* ethics
* Sin
* Social stigma
* Stewardship
* Styles
* Sublime, The
* Suffering
* Sympathy
* Taboo
* Theodicy
* Trust
* Unspoken rules
* Virtues and Vices
* Works of art
* Wrongdoing

Examples

| Attitudes|

* Misanthropy
* Optimism
* Pessimism
* Reclusion
* Weltschmerz

|

Economic and
political ideologies|

* Anarchism
* Authoritarianism
* Capitalism
* Christian democracy
* Collectivism
* Colonialism
* Communalism
* Communism
* Communitarianism
* Conservatism
* Constitutionalism
* Distributism
* Environmentalism
* Extremism
* Fanaticism
* Fascism
* Feminism
* Fundamentalism
* Globalism
* Green politics
* Imperialism
* Individualism
* Industrialisation
* Intellectualism
* Islamism
* Liberalism
* Libertarianism
* Masculism
* Militarism
* Monarchism
* Nationalism
* Pacifism
* Progressivism
* Radicalism
* Reformism
* Republicanism
* Sentientism
* Social democracy
* Socialism
* Utilitarianism
* Veganism

Religions|

* Baháʼí
* Buddhism
* Caodaism
* Cheondoism
* Chinese folk religion
* Christianity
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Ethnic religions
* Hinduism
* Hòa Hảo
* Islam
* Jainism
* Judaism
* Korean shamanism
* Modern paganism
* Rastafari
* Secularity / Irreligion / Agnosticism / Atheism
* Shinto
* Sikhism
* Spiritism
* Taoism
* Tenrikyo
* Traditional African religions
* Unitarian Universalism
* Zoroastrianism

Schools of
philosophy|

* Agriculturalism
* Aristotelianism
* Atomism
* Averroism
* Cartesianism
* Cārvāka
* Collectivism
* Confucianism / New Confucianism
* Critical theory
* Cynicism
* Cyrenaics
* Determinism
* Dualism
* Eleatics
* Empiricism
* Epicureanism
* Eretrian school
* Existentialism
* Fatalism
* Foundationalism
* Hedonism
* Hegelianism
* Hermeneutics
* Historicism / New historicism
* Holism
* Humanism / Renaissance humanism
* Idealism
* Illuminationism
* ʿIlm al-Kalām
* Individualism
* Ionian
* Kantianism / Neo-Kantianism
* Kokugaku
* Legalism
* Logicians
* Materialism
* Megarian school
* Modernism / Postmodernism
* Mohism
* Monism
* Natural law
* Naturalism (Chinese)
* Naturalism (Western)
* Nihilism
* Peripatetic
* Phenomenology
* Platonism / Neoplatonism
* Pluralism
* Positivism
* Pragmatism
* Pre-Socratic
* Pyrrhonism
* Pythagoreanism / Neopythagoreanism
* Rationalism
* Reductionism
* Scholasticism / Neo-scholasticism
* Sentientism
* Social constructionism
* Sophism
* Spinozism
* Stoicism
* Structuralism / Post-structuralism
* Thomism
* Transcendentalism
* Utilitarianism
* Yangism

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