Values and their Characteristics Values standards for determining the relative worth of conditions situations people or things Abstract concepts Commonly accepted as enduring goods Ideals which people consider to be of outstanding and lasting importance ID: 485820
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Values and EthicsSlide2
Values and their Characteristics
Values: standards for determining the relative worth of conditions, situations, people, or things.
Abstract concepts
Commonly accepted as enduring goods
Ideals which people consider to be of outstanding and lasting importance
Not absolutes
Ex: honesty is a value, but may not be the greatest good at all timesSlide3
Not all values can be achieved at all times; therefore, value debates deal with identifying the value(s) that are important in a given situationSlide4
Values are good
Not all good in the same way
Innate/Intrinsic
: worthy in and of themselves
Ex: justice, freedom, equality
Instrumental
: lead to other things that are perceived as good
Ex: property, altruism, progress, work
It is possible to be both intrinsically and instrumentally goodSlide5
Value Qualifications
Cannot just be instrumentally useful
Must be desirable in the abstract
Ex: “fraud” helps you gain property, money, or recognition, but no one would say “fraud” is desirable in and of itself
Many values paired with opposites:
disvalues
or
negative values
Violence and peace
Injustice and justice
Values can also stand in opposition
Ex: value of community often conflicts with value of individualismSlide6
Common Values in Debate
Altruism
Beauty
Collective Good
Community
Equality
Family
Free Expression
Freedom
Individualism
Integrity
Justice
Knowledge
Leisure
Life
Majority Rule
Nature
Peace
Privacy
Progress
Property
Quality of Life
Security
Self-Actualization
Work Slide7
What about “happiness?”
Many philosophers claim “happiness” as the ultimate
value
In debate it can be too vague to be used as a primary value
Can be used as a standard for evaluating which values should have priority in a given context.Slide8
Be wary of Quasi-values
Very similar, but not an actual value.
Rights: generally much narrower in definition than a value.
Privileges & Duties: considered less important than rights and can be nullified by other concerns.
Needs: values cannot be coerced, and needs can also be bad for you.
Polices: products of our beliefs; values create our policies