Branches of Philosophy
Value Theory
Also Known As Axiology The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that in its narrowest sense value theory is used for a relatively narrow area of normative ethical theory roughly synonymous with axiology, so the two terms are close but not in every use identical.
Ethics
The branch of philosophy that investigates what is good, how good it is, and how the goodness of different things compares. Traditional value theory, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's own words, seeks to investigate what things are good, how good they are, and how their goodness is related to one another. In its narrower sense the term is roughly synonymous with axiology, and the field examines intrinsic value, the goodness a thing has in itself, against instrumental value, the goodness it has for the sake of something else.
Facts
Disputed
Key DebateValue monism versus value pluralism: whether value is reducible to a single master value, such as pleasure or preference satisfaction, or is irreducibly plural, with goods such as friendship, knowledge and beauty each mattering in their own right and not fully substitutable for one another, a dispute sharpened by Isaiah Berlin's defense of pluralism. 2 Isaiah Berlin's value pluralism, developed against monist utilitarian and Kantian systems alike, remains the reference point for this dispute. Central QuestionWhat things are good, how good are they, and how does their goodness compare with one another? 1 Key DebateThe incommensurability of values: if one state of affairs is better than another only when it contains more value overall, and there is more than one basic intrinsic value, it becomes unclear how two states of affairs can be ranked when one contains more of one value and the other contains more of a different value, so that not every pair of valuable things may be comparable on a single scale at all. 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Value Theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Source Value Theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Source Philosophy and Economics (Wikipedia)
Includes
Source Alejandro Korn, Wikipedia
Source Alexius Meinong (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Bernard Suits
Source Value Theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Sources
1. Value Theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophySection 2, Traditional Questions
Traditional axiology seeks to investigate what things are good, how good they are, and how their goodness is related to one another.
Section 2.2.3, Incommensurability
If one state of affairs is better than another just in case it contains more value than the other, and there are two or more basic intrinsic values, then it is not clear how two states of affairs can be compared, if one contains more of the first value, but the other contains more of the second.
Introduction
In this narrow sense, 'value theory' is roughly synonymous with 'axiology'.
- Associated With: G.E. Moore
- Associated With: Immanuel Kant
Includes: Utilitarianism, entry: Value Theory, Section 3.1.2
Classical consequentialism, and its instantiation in the form of utilitarianism, has been well-explored, and its advantages and costs cannot be surveyed here.
View the Source 2. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Stanford University, Center for the Study of Language and Informations.v. Value PluralismView the Source Philosophy and Economics (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Philosophy of Economics, Three subject matters discussionQuote, Associated With: Philosophy of Economics, Three subject matters discussion
It is useful to divide philosophy of economics in this way into three subject matters which can be regarded respectively as branches of action theory, ethics (or normative social and political philosophy), and philosophy of science.
Alexius Meinong (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Alexius Meinong, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Alexius Meinong, Infobox: main_interests
Ontology, theory of objects, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, value theory
Wikipedia: Bernard Suits
WikipediaIncludes: Bernard Suits, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Bernard Suits, Infobox: main_interests
Philosophy of sport, philosophy of games, value theory, utopianism
Alejandro Korn, Wikipedia
Includes: Alejandro Korn, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Alejandro Korn, Infobox: main_interests
Axiology, freedom, history of Argentine philosophy
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