[From Latin objectum: that which is presented to consciousness.]
(metaphysics) The doctrine that reality exists outside of the mind and that entities retain their identity no matter what human beings think or feel about them; another word for realism, in opposition to subjectivism.
(ethics) The view that there are standards of value and conduct based on the reality of human nature; another term for naturalism.
(system) The self-applied name (usually with a capital "O") for the ideas of philosophical novelist Ayn Rand (1905-1982), emphasizing reason, individualism, and political libertarianism.