When we taste something, that which we taste is about to be incorporated into our being.

When we smell something we preview taste, and based on this preview either avoid what we smell or approach it, and possibly really taste it.

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Taking taste and smell metaphorically, taste is subjective and smell is objective.

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This last statement may make no sense to you. This is an opportunity to catch a glimpse of what hermeneutics (the practice of interpretation) is, and perhaps see how it is done. I will demonstrate the process.

Objective? Doesn’t that mean knowing what is really out there in the world, with as little distortion of our own opinions, feelings, errors, etc. as possible? And subjective? — isn’t that precisely those opinions, feelings, intuitions, etc. that we seek to see through when we attempt objectivity?

How is seeing and smelling any different in terms of objectivity and subjectivity? They’re both subjective and objective to the same degree in the same way.

75% of readers will say “huh” and just move on, neither understanding nor misunderstanding. 20% of readers will understand perfectly well, and assume error on the part of the writer, never realizing they’ve misunderstood the sense of the statement. 5% will take a hermeneutic approach and ask: “In what sense does the author mean ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’? Is there another way to conceive these terms, one that is analogous to the relationship between tasting and smelling that will reveal a different understanding of objectivity and subjectivity?” And once you re-conceptualize those terms, which are so fundamental to the popular metaphysics of our time — in all likelihood, you share it — if you can hold on to this way of seeing long enough to look out on the world through it, you’ll also understand the word “holistic” in a new sense.

Thomas Kuhn says it well:

When reading the works of an important thinker, look first for the apparent absurdities in the text and ask yourself how a sensible person could have written them. When you find an answer, …when these passages make sense, then you may find that more central passages, ones you previously thought you understood, have changed their meaning.

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Through hermeneutics, reading becomes a source of nourishment. Instead of flitting about scenting out new possibilities and longing for an otherwise, we can actually experience an otherwise, actualize it and enrich our lives, and in the process gain justice in understanding other people.