A view from nowhere

Conflicts Between the Subjective and Objective Perspectives in Modern Philosophy

Each of us is a specific person, living our own individual life and viewing the world from our own internal, subjective perspective. At the same time, however, we all have the ability to distance ourselves from this primary viewpoint and look at ourselves and the world ‘from nowhere’. Yet, it is not always easy to reconcile both perspectives, and the conflicts between them give rise to difficult problems in all areas of philosophy. How can we incorporate our subjective experience into the objective picture of the world developed by modern physics? How can we combine our inner consciousness of freedom with an external view from which our actions seem to be just another part of the stream of events in the world? How can we come to terms with the fact that, from a cosmic standpoint, all our ideals, interests, and values appear utterly insignificant?

These and other questions—the mind-body problem, freedom and the meaning of life, as well as scepticism, the objectivity of values, or the relationship of morality to the good life—are discussed by the contemporary American philosopher Thomas Nagel in his most important work, The View from Nowhere.