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| Just what are
values? How should we define this concept in ethics? As we shall see
at the completion of this Guided Inquiry, the nature of values is
complex and there is likely no single definition that we might arrive
at which would capture such complexity. In fact, values are intimately
related to many other concepts, principles and theories in ethics. |
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| To
gain a first sense of this complexity, read the way that Danney Ursery,
Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Edward's University in Austin,
Texas has attempted to map the concept of moral values. Go to: |
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| Not only are values
complex because of their place in the process of ethical decision
making, they are also hard to grasp given their multiple aspects.
Philosophers make a number of distinctions with respect to values
and valuing. There are intrinsic and instrumental values, social and
cultural values, and core values of individuals and central values
of organizations. The following discussion will assist you exploring
many of these distinctions within the realm of values. |
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For our first major distinction, we need to pay more attention
to what Professor Ursery had only implied in his discussion, namely,
that there is an important distinction between values and facts
and the nature of the statements that contain them.
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| Read an excellent
application of the fact-value distinction and its importance in contemporary
discussions about political decision-making and the role of science
in the political process. The short essay is by Arthur Kantrowitz
who is Professor of Engineering, Thayer School, Dartmouth College. |
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| Our next path
in this Guided Inquiry on the nature of values will take us to Greece
and Turkey where you can read a scholarly, philosophical treatment
of the difference between intrinsic and instrumental values as it
is used in the applied ethics arena of environmental ethics. |
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| Read the work
by Dr. Geoff S. Bowe, Faculty of Humanities and Letters, Bilkent University,
Turkey that is found on a server from Greece. His treatment is titled:
"Nature and Value -- Some Historical and Contemporary Reflections."
Go to: |
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http://www.biopolitics.gr/HTML/PUBS/budapest/Bowe.html
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| Using
Values |
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| As we have seen,
values play a central role in ethical decision making. Although there
are variations about what constitutes a value in the literature of
ethics, a value can be defined as an item of worth. People attach
values to all sorts of things: careers, money, cars, love, education
and so on. What people value they find worthy of their pursuit and
pursue only that which they value. In short, values are one of the
prime motivating factors in human behavior. |
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| Values are definitive
of our person. Once we have chosen those items that we find most worthy
of our pursuit, then our way of being the kind of person we are has
been delimited and charted out. The values that so define us are usually
called our "core values." These are basic values that we
might be willing to die for, that we would not sacrifice nor abandon.
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| Because core values
are so subjective, they will be relative to the individual who holds
them. Not all individuals have the same core values and conflicts
about them will often arise. When there is a particularly divisive
clash between bona fide values that people hold, then ethicists deem
that conflict as one form of an ethical dilemma. |
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| But there are
other ways that values can be defined as well. The idea of "shared
values" is important. Here conflict about values is replaced
with agreement and harmony. Groups, families, associations, societies
and nations can be said to have and hold shared values since they
provide the fundamental basis upon which these collectives are formed
and so shared values are often called "social values". A
shared value is a kind of "cement" that holds and brings
people together. Some have called this aspect of shared or social
values a form of "social capital." |
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| Organizations
such as corporations and the various professions share values that
help define their field of activity. In medicine, for example, helping
and caring for others is highly valued. In the field of law, justice
and due process are preeminent, while safety and efficiency are valued
by engineers. One can identify the shared values of the various professions
and use them as one way to define what it means to be a professional
in that field. |
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| In corporations,
values identify the culture that is operative in the organization.
In different corporations different cultures come from the holding
of different values. Work in banking will be quite different than
working in the computer field thanks to the differing values that
will be found in each of these two kinds of endeavors. |
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| Just as there
are conflicts among people with respect to their individually held
core values, so too are there value conflicts that arise for professionals.
First, there is the possibility that there will be disagreement among
professionals in a given profession about what is valuable in that
profession. Should lawyers or doctors advertise their services on
television and use the same sort of hype that is used to sell cars
or deodorants? How much should professionals charge for services that
is fair to their clients? Should professionals maintain confidentiality
for their clients no matter what the client tells them? These and
many other issues, problems and dilemmas are essentially value conflicts
that professionals must address in the course of their careers. A
good bit of the material to be covered in this course will deal with
value conflicts in the professions. |
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| But in addition
to value conflicts that might occur within the professions, there
may be conflicts of values that can be found external to the profession.
A professional might find the set of shared values that define his
or her profession to be at odds with values outside of the profession
that are held by other individuals, other professions, the organization
in which they happen to work or even those that are held by society.
When such a value conflict occurs between those of a profession and
some external value or set of values, then the professional is in
the midst of an ethical dilemma. |
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| In the first step
of a VCR analysis of ethical issues, problems and dilemmas then, we
need to identify the particular values that are at issue in addition
to raising questions about responsibilities, consequences and virtues.
Any discussion of ethics must include reference to values, if it is
to be complete. We need to ask the value questions: |
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"What
are the values of this profession?" |
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"What
are the values of this individual professional?" |
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"Do
these conflict with the shared values of the professional's employer
or of society?" |
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"If
they do, how can this conflict be resolved?" |
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| Finally,
it is often argued by ethicists that professionals need to be quite
cognizant of the social values area. It is claimed that professionals
are primarily responsible to society for their conduct and that the
society is the beneficiary of professional work. Thus, certain social
values need to be preserved and protected by professionals. Social
values like freedom, equality, justice and so on need to be the hallmarks
of professional life. When they are replaced with the values of self-interest
by a professional, then a lack of professionalism can be said to result.
The social responsibilities of professionals will be one of the major
topics addressed later in our course. |
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Exercise
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| What profession
do you plan on entering (or are considering, if your plans are not
firm yet) when you finish your formal education? Search the web for
sites that deal with that profession. Look especially for any trade
or professional association groups such as the National Society of
Professional Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
Association for Computing Machinery, Society of Professional Journalists,
etc. Identify the values that pertain to these professional groups
and professions. What kinds of values are these? How might they be
useful to members of this profession? |
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| More on Values |
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| Here
are some other websites for you to explore that deal with this first
aspect of the VCR approach to ethics: |
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Values in Action! Program: http://www.ethicsusa.com/via.cfm?page=VIAProgram
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| Society for Values in Higher
Education: http://www.svhe.org |
| The Nature of Moral Values
- Light of Islam: http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/Moral-Values.htm |
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