In metaphysics, “subjectivism” is the view that reality (the “object”) is
dependent on human consciousness (the “subject”). In epistemology, as a result,
subjectivists hold that a man need not concern himself with the facts of
reality; instead, to arrive at knowledge or truth, he need merely turn his
attention inward, consulting the appropriate contents of consciousness, the
ones with the power to make reality conform to their dictates. According to the
most widespread form of subjectivism, the elements which possess this power are
feelings.
In essence, subjectivism is the doctrine that feelings are the creator of
facts, and therefore men’s primary tool of cognition. If men feel it, declares
the subjectivist, that makes it so.
The alternative to subjectivism is the advocacy of objectivity—an attitude
which rests on the view that reality exists independent of human consciousness;
that the role of the subject is not to create the object, but to perceive it;
and that knowledge of reality can be acquired only by directing one’s attention
outward to the facts.