Goodness and value theory

Theories of Value investigate how people positively and negatively value things and concepts, the reasons they use in making their evaluations, and the scope of a legitimate evaluation across the social world. As a related issue, theories of goodness inquire into what sorts of things are good, and what the word "good" really means in the abstract.

Types of the good

Moral, natural, and economic goods

There is a difference between moral and natural goods. Moral goods are those that have to do with the conduct of persons, usually involving praise or blame. Natural goods, on the other hand, have to do with objects, not persons. For example, to say that "Mary's a morally good person" might have a different sense of good in the sentence "A banana split is good".

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Ethics tends to be more interested in moral goods than natural goods, and economics tends to be more interested in the reverse. However, both moral and natural goods are equally interesting to goodness and value theory.

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Sometimes, moral and natural goods can conflict. The value of natural "goods" is challenged by such issues as addiction.

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The issue of addiction also brings up the distinction between economic and moral goods, where an economic good is whatever stimulates economic growth. For instance, some claim that cigarettes are a "good" in the economic sense, as their production can employ tobacco growers and doctors who treat lung cancer. Many people would agree that cigarette smoking is not morally "good", nor naturally "good", but still recognize that it is economically good.

Related Topics:
Economic growth - Cigarette - Tobacco - Lung cancer

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Intrinsic and instrumental goods

Many people find it useful to distinguish instrumental and intrinsic goods, first discussed by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics. An instrumental good is worth having as a means towards getting something else that is good (ie, a radio is instrumentally good in order to hear music). And an intrinsically good thing is worth having for itself, even if it doesn't help one get anything else that's good (ie, listening to good music).

Related Topics:
Intrinsic - Aristotle

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But these are not mutually exclusive categories. Some things are both good in themselves, and also good for getting other things that are good. "Understanding science" may be such a good, being both worthwhile in and of itself, and as a means of achieving other goods (ie, producing technology).

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Since instrumental goods are always tied to other goods, it may be said (for instance, by deontologists) that the values by which one lives must ultimately be intrinsic. For example, most people pursue the goal of making money so that they can afford what they call "the finer things in life", and since people dedicate their lives to achieving these things, it might be said they hold some kind of intrinsic value. However, some (ie, hedonists) claim that there is only one thing that is an "intrinsic good" -- happiness. And others (ie, skeptics, ethical nihilists) wonder whether there are any intrinsic goods at all.

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Contributory, intrinsic, and inherent goods

Another improvement is to distinguish contributory goods. These have the same qualities as the good thing, but need some emergent property of a whole state-of-affairs in order to be good. For example, salt is food on its own, and good as such, but is far better as part of a prepared meal.

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Those philosophers that think goods have to create desirable mental states also say that goods are experiences of self-aware beings. These philosophers often distinguish the experience, which thay call an intrinsic good, from the things that seem to cause the experience, which they call "inherent" goods.

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Kant: hypothetical and categorical goods

Kant's (1724-1804) thinking influenced moral philosophy. He thought of moral value as a unique and universally identifiable property. He showed that many practical goods are good only in states-of-affairs described by a sentence containing an "if" clause. Further, the "if" clause often described the category in which the judgment was made (Art, science, etc.). Kant described these as "hypothetical goods," and tried to find a "categorical" good that would operate across all categories of judgment.

Related Topics:
Kant - 1724 - 1804 - Moral philosophy

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An influential result of Kant's search was the idea of a good will as being the only good in itself. Famously, this argument was used by Albert Einstein in his writings on the need for humanitarian (rather than military) development.

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Moreover, Kant saw a good will as acting in accordance with a moral command, the "Categorical Imperative": "Act according to those maxims that you could will to be universal law." From this, and a few other axioms, Kant developed a moral system that would apply to any "praiseworthy person." (See Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, third section, -.)

Related Topics:
Categorical Imperative - Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals

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Kantian philosophers believe that any general definition of goodness must define goods that are categorical in the sense that Kant intended.

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Yet it can be objected that hypothetical imperatives sometimes outweigh Categorical imperatives, and intrinsic goods can be outweighed by instrumental goods. If so, then it is difficult to see how these categories can aid in making judgments, or provide guidance to life.

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