Honest Subjectivity in Halacha

Rav Chaim did not accept the common view that halachic questions must be approached with strict objectivity. He argued on principle for open and conscious subjectivity. A posek who faces a case of mamzerus or an agunah has an aim, and strives to find a lenient ruling; Rav Chaim applied this same approach to nearly every question he examined. Some readers take this as a sign of lack of seriousness, while others welcome it as a fresh alternative to the insistence on objectivity.