Projectivism is a concept within ethics stating that when a person makes a moral judgement they are projecting their own feelings, attitudes or values, they are not establishing or confirming an objective truth.
It’s pretty easy to prove the subjectivity of “good” vs “bad.” I’ve done it in a lot of other writing, so let’s just presuppose that here. There is some “thing” and it is labeled by individuals and then perceived through experience. Projectivism picks up here and uses this as the basis for the belief that morality is a reflection of our subjective perspective, rather than an universal reality.
An easy way to spot projectivism is to look at aesthetics. Jack and Jill go on a date to an art museum. While there, they go into a special display case where one painting stands alone on an elegant backdrop. Jill is moved. She thinks, “This is beautiful; it really resonates with me. I reminds me of my Irish Grandmother and her famous garden.” Jack, on the other hand, is nonplussed. He thinks, “This was worth $40 entry? Flowers?” Every person who paid $40 to view this work of art will have a different view. Is the artist good? Is their technique bad? Is the backdrop good? Is having no trash cans for empty wine cups bad? You get the idea here. There is absolutely no way to objectively say that the painting is good or bad. It’s all of the experiences you carry that bring your emotions into how you view beauty.
In this example, projectivism suggests that there is no inherent, universal quality of beauty to the painting (which is pretty obvious, unless we want to argue that all things created are at base “good”…but hey, that’s a different day. Jack and Jill are both projecting their own emotions and feelings onto the work. This can be seen in almost every area of life.
That was an easy example. It gets harder and more puzzling when putting projectivism to moral tests. A topic you could study with a lens of projectivism is capital punishment. Really, any controversial topic. There are people who support it fully and people who oppose it vehemently. Always. This study illustrates how people’s moral views are rooted in their personal experiences, ethical frameworks and cultural influences, rather than a universal, objective moral truth. Jack says–Capital punishment is bad. Jill says–Capital punishment is good. Who is right?
I liked this small dose of projectivism that I got from my existentialism study guide. A contemporary thinker mentioned in my research is Simon Blackburn. I haven’t learned much about him at this point, but I did enjoy diving into his ideas on projectivism. Probably more to come on this topic!