Stranger objectivity is freedom from perceptual and normative bias

Evidence

Objectivity can also be defined as freedom. The objective man is not bound by ties which could prejudice his perception, his understanding, and his assessment of data. This freedom, which permits the stranger to experience and treat even his close relationships as though from a bird’s-eye view, contains many dangerous possibilities. … From earliest times, in uprisings of all sorts the attacked party has claimed that there has been incitement from the outside, by foreign emissaries and agitators. Insofar as this has happened, it represents an exaggeration of the specific role of the stranger: he is the freer man, practically and theoretically; he examines conditions with less prejudice; he assesses them against standards that are more general and more objective; and his actions are not confined by custom, piety, or precedent. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 395

Categorization

• XREF: The dangerous possibilities of freedom feed the essay’s claim that detachment degenerates into an unmoored, unreliable observer. — connects to: Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401; Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 403; Self-knowledge of one’s limits requires a vantage point outside them — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 787 (+5 more)

Related

• The stranger’s freedom from commitments enables objective evaluation (similarity 0.92)
• A stranger is someone personally unknown yet visually available (similarity 0.80)
• Shared universal traits make the stranger simultaneously near and far (similarity 0.79)
• Strangeness is a specific proportion of nearness and distance (similarity 0.79)
• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals #expands (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401