[MD] Valuism and Quality

[Ham Priday]

All MoQists --


For some time now I have been trying to advance the concept that Quality 
(i.e., Value) is subjective rather than universal in nature.  This a 
"radical" concept only for the MoQists who deny subjectivity and are thus 
persuaded to think of Value as an attribute of the cosmos that we 
consciously latch onto in rare moments of insight.  The idea that it is the 
individual who "evaluates" everything in existence, and comes to realize 
that "some things are better," is acknowledged by just about everybody on 
this planet, with the notable exception of the Pirsigians.  The anomaly 
doesn't help to promote a value-based philosophy and I question the 
soundness of the premise which makes it necessary.

Last week John Carl, who like Marsha and possibly Willblake2, are looking 
for "something new" that can replace the endless circular arguments on the 
MD, divulged that he'd like to see "People of Quality" or "Politics of 
Quality" (PoQ in either case) as a theme for discussion.  Since this motto 
recalled Mao-Tse-tung's "People's Party", I suggested that he might instead 
consider "Valuism" as a philosophical movement.  I told him the term isn't 
in the dictionary but is occasionally used by philosophers and estheticians 
in reference to human value sensibility.

When I googled the key words "Valuism, philosophy" on the Internet to see 
who might have used the term in this context, the first item that appeared 
was an essay titled "The Philosophy of Individual Valuism".  It turned out 
to be a clearly written exposition on the very issue toward which I'd been 
directing my efforts.  With "suitable adjustments", which hopefully can be 
the subject of future discussion, I believe the epistemology outlined in 
this essay is compatible with both the MoQ and Essentialism.  To whet your 
appetite, here are some pertinent excerpts from this author's thesis:

"For the vast majority of humans, perceptions of value and goodness are too 
often distorted by lenses of culture and mysticism that assert what is 
supposed to be desired with little or no sound reasoning. Individual Valuism 
is the philosophy that individuals are capable of judging values by 
themselves.  Moreover, values can only be defined relative to individuals. 
Outside of a mind with preferences, goodness cannot exist."

"Unfortunately, most people are ...taught that value is defined by some 
impersonal standard that one is supposed to have or find.  Such a standard 
cannot exist.  Value is a property that exists within minds.  Something can 
be valued by some people in the world, nobody in the world, or even everyone 
in the world, but there cannot be a value that is "objective," "necessary," 
or "a priori."  In other words, there cannot be anything that is desirable 
to, and independent of, every possible point of view.  Any belief that such 
a value exists can only be supported by a naïve argument that fails to make 
a connection between what exists and what ought to be.  In order for 
something to have value, there must be a point of view to perceive it. 
Knowing value requires a mind to think in the same way as knowing beauty 
requires eyes to see."

"I also want to make clear the distinctions between Individual Valuism and 
views of moral relativism, which argue that ethical assertions are relative 
to the traditions or beliefs of a culture, individual, or group.  On the 
surface, there may not appear to be much of a difference between the two. 
The most obvious difference is that Individual Valuism only recognizes 
ethics relative to individuals; a person is not morally bound to the views 
of any culture or group.  Furthermore, traditions and beliefs are not the 
same as values.  Values are what actually result in good consequences to a 
person.  A child could believe that inoculations are bad, but they may 
actually be good to him, if they save him from a terrible illness.  A group 
of savages may sacrifice animals because tradition tells them to, but doing 
so may actually be bad to them, if not sacrificing the animals would've had 
better results.  For some reason that escapes me, some people say that 
relativism implies that all moral decisions are equally valid and should be 
tolerated.  In any case, this should not be applied to Individual Valuism. 
An individual is at liberty to consider his values first and reject and 
respond to opposing judgments."

I hope you will find this essay as readable and enlightening as I did.  The 
anonymous writer applies his 'Valuism' to Ethics, Culture, Religion, 
Government and Economics.  But the underlying concept is that Value is 
realizable only by the individual.  The complete article is accessible at 
http://www.indval.org/IV.htm .

A memorable Memorial Day to all of you,
Ham