VALUES

INTRODUCTION:
This unit introduces to you the concept of value. There is no field of social activity in the present age which is not
affected by the idea of value. Value has played a prominent part in all ethical theories beginning with Plato. The term Value
has a wide range of current usage in Philosophy and the Sciences.
In this unit, we have tried to arrive at a clarification of the concept of value, its kinds, fact-value relation and the place of
value in reality. To achieve this purpose, we are proceeding with an analysis of the concept. There is difference of opinion
with regard to the question: Are values subjective or objective? The Central distinction in the theory of value is between
Intrinsic and Extrinsic values. There is also the question of whether values exist and if so, how they relate to facts.The place
of value in reality has also occasioned much discussion and difference of opinion.
AXIOLOGY:
Before we talk about the concept of value, let us think about what is axiology in philosophy. Values are studied in
the branch of Philosophy called Axiology or value theory and it is of relatively recent origin. One major theme in axiology is
concerned with defining values and characterizing their nature in order to develop a general theory of values. It enquires into
the process through which we get the knowledge and appreciation of values, and the relative importance of different human
faculties, intellect, feeling, will, in this process. Another theme of the distinction between different kinds of values and
developing methods for their classification e.g. relative values and absolute values, instrumental values and end values,
intrinsic values and extrinsic values, idealistic and practical values (subjective and objective).
MEANING OF VALUE
Now that you have an idea about Axiology, let us look at the meaning of value. Value is an ambiguous term. Our sense of value is an essential attribute
of the human consciousness. Value serves as the basis for judgement, reference, choice and action. The term value itself came to ethics by way of
economics. In Economics, it is used for (a) value in use, that is, the capacity of object to satisfy a human need or desire and (b) value in exchange or
the amount of one commodity that can be obtained in exchange for another. Generally, an object is said to have value, if it contributes to the
satisfaction of a human need.
The word value is derived from Latin Valere i.e., to be strong or to be worth. Therefore, etymologically the term value denotes the worth of
something. According to the Oxford English Dictionary value is worth, utility, desirability and qualities on which these depend. In general the word
value expresses the qualitative significance we assign to ideas, feelings, activities and experiences. Values are the evaluative standards we use for
deciding what is right and what is wrong, what is desirable and what is undesirable. Our value judgments are expressed through statements like. She
is a good person, He is an honest man, It is a beautiful sunset, We should respect the elders etc. etc.
The Indian concept of value is represented in the concept of fourfold aim of human life (catupururtha) which consists of (a) politico-economic values
(artha), (b) hedonistic values (krma), (c) moral values (dharma) and (d) religio-spiritual values (moksa).
Therefore, the term value may refer to interests, pleasures, likes, preferences, duties, moral obligations, desires, wants, needs, aversions and
attractions and many other modalities of selective orientation. Thus, the word value is used in a variety of ways both in and out of Philosophy.
In our everyday speech and philosophical literature the term value appears in three basic senses, which often overlap and are even more often
confused:
DEFINITION OF VALUES:

Value is what a thing is worth

Value is a valuable (a) thing or (b) property (quality) something to which valuableness is ascribed.

Value is an idea which makes us consider the given objects, qualities or events as valuable

By now you have an idea about the meaning of value. Let us discuss the definitions of value. According to the International Encyclopedia of
Ethics, Value is the relative level of worth goodness, significance, or utility possessed by an entity, attribute, or event or an intangible
quality or attribute that has intrinsic worth in itself.

Different philosophers have tried to define value in a variety of ways. W.M. Urban rightly says, That alone is ultimately and intrinsically
valuable that leads to the development of selves or to self-realisation. Man is a person or self. So what is conducive to self realization is
intrinsically valuable. Man is not a mere animal. So what satisfies his isolated desires or promotes his life is not intrinsically valuable to him.
But what satisfies his personality or contributes to his self-realization, is ultimately valuable to him. In the beginning, it appears that

whatever satisfies desire is a good or value. But we find on closer examination that our wants and desire must themselves in turn be valued
in terms of their relation to the survival and enhancement of life. Man is not only body, life, and mind, but also a person, a self, a spirit. Our
life gets its value from the kind of life it is. Satisfaction of desires also is not intrinsically valuable. Man must go beyond organic welfare and
satisfaction of desires to reach the concept of what is intrinsically valuable.

James Ward rightly points out that value resides in the object of desire. The object that satisfies a desire has value. When an object
satisfies a desire it gives rise to pleasure. The feeling of pleasure is the sense of value but not value in itself. According to I. Mackenzie,
Pleasure may fairly be described as a sense of value. The feeling of pleasure is the accompaniment of objects which have a certain value
for the consciousness to which they are presented. Value resides in objects which satisfy our desires. When they are attained, pleasure
ensures as a consequence.

In twentieth century Axiology particular attention has been attracted by definitions of value formulated by R.B. Perry. According to R.B.
Perry, a value is an object of interest to someone, for it emanates from the peculiar relation between the interest and its object. Thus, he
defines value in terms of interest. He, therefore, states that value is the special character of an object which consists in the fact that
interest is taken in it. But the intimate relation between interest and value does not imply that we should impute value only to that which
interests us.

John Dewey has stated, Value may be connected inherently with liking, and yet not with every but only with those judgement has
approved, after examination of the relation upon which the object liked depends. We may, for example, like sweets whole heartedly but if
we are aware that it will injure our health it can have no value for us. Obviously, interest or liking is not the final measure of value. Value is
determined by the standard of right and wrong. Even when not liked the right object can be valuable and the wrong one valueless
irrespective of whether it is liked or not.

Finally, we can define value as a unique, ultimate and underivable concept, which has its own essence and being. It belongs to the being
which Plato first discovered, the realm which we can spiritually discern, but cannot see or grasp. Nicolai Hartmann subscribes to this view
when he maintains that Values are essences. In their modes of being they are Platonic Ideas. According to Hartmann There is a selfexistent ideal sphere in which values are native, and as the contents of this sphere values, self-existent and dependent upon no
experience, are discerned a-priori. (Ethics, Vol-I p.165).
From this we know that values not formal or empty structures but they possess contents. They are not capable of being directly grasped by
thought; they can only be immediately discerned by an inner vision. The essence of values always remains transcendent to the existential
reality. Thus, Hartmann defines, values as essences having ideal self-existence or Being of an Ethical ideal sphere. If Values are Being or
existence, they will lose their unique and fundamental character for axiology. Here values become a part of metaphysical reality. Hartmann
makes value real in a Platonic World of super sensible essences.

By now you have a clear idea about what is value. Let us know about the significance of value. All our moral judgement involves either
assigning value to an action, person, or thing, or accurately perceiving the value that exists within an action, person, or thing. For an
objectivist, value is the basis of judgement. For a subjectivist, value is the thing produced by judgement.

Values are of signal importance. Without them, human life would be drained of significance, a bland and textureless existence without
differentiation. Academic disciplines focus on value in a variety of ways The arts explore expressions of value: For example, Sociology,
Anthropology, and History all examine the ways in which values are embedded in societys structures and psychology.