Value word
A value word is an expression that is supposed to allow evaluations of the quality and nature of a phenomenon from a fixed point of view . In particular those value words that relate to the classic objects of investigation in the humanities . Value words and their propositions are preferably described within linguistics with the help of semantics or word field analysis, although the question of the subjectivity or objectivity of the postulated properties remains unanswered. In the history of science, this topic has been discussed much and vehemently, for example in the positivism dispute or in the later value judgment dispute . A plausible, positivistic and empirically comparable value model was only introduced in 1992 with the metatheory of quality by R. M. Pirsig ; all other theories contain in their basic principles i. d. R. normative definitions and early reflections, based on which other values judgments were logically derived.
history
Within the history of science, the discussion of values can look back on a comprehensive chronology that shows long and heated debates about the properties and essence of values:
- Since sets of values cannot be verified empirically, Wittgenstein considered them pointless.
- According to Nozick, they have no causal power since, in order to come into being, they require our choice.
- Heidegger rejected declarations of values for ethical reasons (values are straightening and narrowing).
- Nietzsche saw values as the 'coffin nails of reason'.
- Habermas described values as ritualized agreements.
- Scheler saw values as properties of objects, while it
- for Hume there is no such thing as objects outside of the senses: every matter is thought deductively formed from sensory experience. Values are therefore subjective.
- Hartmann stated that "there is an inherent realm of values"; There are differences in values, however, only because some are too insensitive to this “realm”.
- Moore resigned, "that good is good, and that is the end of it."
According to the self-image of science, the analysis of values does not fall within its area of responsibility. This becomes clear in the definitions with which science describes itself: “The main goal of W. is the rational, comprehensible knowledge of the relationships, processes, causes and regularities of natural as well as historical and culturally created reality [...] as the main characteristic of science (except in Marxism) an objectivity free of evaluations, feelings and external determinants, based on factual relevance, which, in addition to the methodical consensus, justifies the generalization and general verifiability of scientific statements. “The self-imposed freedom of values thus creates the paradoxical situation of being supposed to describe value systems in science in a value-free manner. In practice, this paradigm is solved by a form of representation that is distant to the self in academic work and the stylistic withdrawal to only those, generally accepted value words that, as a cultural commons, unite author and reader within the community of values and thus make the definition of value words superfluous via the unspoken consensus of values.
Metatheory of quality according to Pirsig
In his theory, Robert M. Pirsig did not assume that value words obey a common ordering principle, as the previous opinion provided. To clarify the role and suitability of science in the creation and research of standards of values - Pirsig tried to clarify by questioning the metaphysical theoretical basis on whose basis u. a. the positivism dispute was waged. Pirsig divides the phenomena of the world into four independent stages of evolution, each of which pursues an inherent moral. So there is to Pirsig
- inorganic (i.e. inanimate matter in terms of atoms and molecules)
- biological (i.e. living forms that try to evade the ordering or natural laws of matter)
- social (i.e. forms of living together of living beings, whereby this coexistence can only be enforced through the partial and brutal eradication of biological laws of order)
- mental (i.e. all systems of thought. This includes in particular science (research and teaching), but also literature, religion and all other forms of expression of mental activity)
Pirsig describes the usefulness of dividing the world into inorganic, organic, social and spiritual value systems as follows: “ This classification is not very original, but the metaphysics of quality allows us to make a statement about it that is unusual. It says that the four systems are not linked. You stand for yourself. They have little to do with each other. Although each higher level builds on a lower one, it is not a continuation of the lower one. On the contrary: The higher level often contradicts the lower level, controls it, influences it wherever possible in order to pursue its own goals. This observation is impossible in a substance-oriented metaphysics in which everything is traced back to matter. But here atoms and molecules are only one of four levels of static quality structures, and there is no spiritual need for one level to rule the other three. “It is now interesting that each of these 4 moral levels does not correspond with the other moral systems or even harmonize with them; Rather, each level is self-sufficient and selfish and ruthlessly tries to enforce its own moral principles. The statement that each of the four evolutionary stages manipulates the stage subordinate to it in order to pursue its own purposes, indicates the potential for conflict that arises from the resulting overlapping areas of the stages. Four levels b3 + 2 + 1 = 6 mean conflict areas in which contradicting value structures collide with one another.
Biological morality
Biological morality consists in the program of variation and selection of anatomies in which any form is favored that gives an advantage in competing for limited resources. Conditional resources are sexual partners and reproductive opportunities , habitats and territories as well as food and equivalents to secure these Maslowian basic needs . The seemingly selfish phenomenon of displacement of competition only favors the most well-adjusted in his capacity as representative of the species, who should assert his evolutionary prerogative as the “right of the strongest” and serve the survival of the species. A look at the evolutionary family tree shows how extremely successful and diversified these biological strategies have been and are used in the development of anatomies.
Social morality
The occurrence of associations of several individuals to form groups enables, as in the transition from the protozoa to the metazoa , a task-sharing specialization and internal differentiation of the colony, which creates considerable synergy effects for the community. The partial work on joint tasks (task force) creates specializations and responsibilities with regard to food procurement (hunting), brood care or defense. Social associations appear late in evolutionary terms, but now shape social coexistence in all areas (insects: ants, bees / reptiles: birds / mammals: humans, herds of animals / fish and molluscs as life associations) for the purpose of mutual benefit. Social structures are more functional and resilient, the more the individual benefits from joining the group. A community demands completely different behaviors from an individual towards its group members than its biological value structures provide. Egoism and competitive struggles (destroy) the social community and its functionality, so that the community has to take measures to counteract these tendencies . Binding codes of conduct and the associated educational and disciplinary measures are just as present in the animal kingdom as in the praise and punishment conditioning of the individual in the human environment, whose institutions also include schools, laws, police and prisons. The balancing of the individual through recognition and affection on the one hand and (sometimes existence-threatening) exclusion and punishment on the other hand induces the individual to weight social values higher than biological values. Society allows biological value programs such as competition only in the moderate forms of socially accepted competitions and bottleneck games (i.e. all games in which there is competition) or when group interests are to be asserted against other groups.
Spiritual morality
Last but not least, the contents of academic teaching are static structures that are stored as textbooks in libraries and protect what has been explored from being forgotten again. As with the other stages of evolution, these static structures do not consist of themselves, but are the result of dynamic efforts to specify and expand the previous level of knowledge. Science is based on falsification and expansion and is therefore extremely dynamic, which gave it decisive advantages over the immobile programs of static dogmas and religions and caused the secularization of European culture in the Enlightenment. In addition to static structures, science consists primarily in the dynamic principle of observation and hypothesis formation. Intellectual value structures are shaped by the liberal ideal of being able to raise critical questions and considerations on all areas and topics. This also includes freedom of speech, the press and freedom of opinion , which allows the spirit to express itself about the nature of the world even if the statements attack generally recognized ideological, political or moral positions or collide with social taboos.
Democracy is an intellectual structure that makes it possible to change the direction of development of a society on the basis of an idea or conception of target values to be striven for. Legislation and constitutional courts pass reasoned judgments and guidelines in order to change, create or reject existing regulations. New insights, which are mainly obtained from science, are reflected in a society's changed perceptions of a certain issue. An impressive example is the publication of the documentaries initiated with Margaret Mead's “Coming of age in Samoa” on free sexuality and promiscuity in South Sea cultures such as Samoa or Trobriand. These specialist texts also met with the greatest interest among the population and achieved bestseller editions by being functionalized to justify a new, more permissive sexuality by argumentation: These books were anthropological frameworks, but they were also political treatises that accompanied the upheaval from social to spiritual dominance. Now one could argue like this: “If we are scientifically proven that the people of Samoa can have sexual freedoms without harming anyone, it proves that we too can have sexual freedoms without harming anyone. We only have to use our minds to see what is right and what is wrong, instead of blindly following our old moral laws. ” The need to give reasonable motives for one's own actions is, of course, part of the standard scientific program in enlightened cultures. The question of the causal motives of behavior, i.e. the reasons for behavior, is an essential part of educational behavior today, but behavior outside the moral normalcy of a society that cannot be justified is also generally explained as an indication of faulty mental states ("madness").
Dynamic morale / dynamic quality
In addition to the established structures, Pirsig formulates an ongoing influence that modifies the static structures. For this mechanism, no rule can be identified that this mechanism follows; rather, the way the dynamic quality works is designed to infiltrate and circumvent any existing constraints. From this observation, which can be made for all four moral subsystems, Pirsig derives the general formulation that morality consists in creating opportunities for life to develop
Scaling the value words
Biological level
- Sexuality : sex, lust, passion, sensuality, eroticism, beauty, grace, elegance, immaculateness, virginity, desire, greed // antonym: prudery, frigidity, ugliness; Depravity, rape
- Competition : Strength, courage, assertiveness, success, victory, power, war, strength, “field of honor”, envy, aggressiveness, vitality, liveliness, health, integrity, pain, malice / malicious // weakness, fear, fear , lose, succumb, giving in (without a fight), crouching, running away, languor, illness, death, dying, bleeding, sickness, wounding
- Resources : Food, space, home, home, delicious, refreshing, cuddly, fragrant, comfortable, cozy, arduous // thirst, starving, being homeless
- Hygiene : Neat, clean, immaculate // Symbols and expressions for body residues (excrement, liquids such as blood, mucus), diseases, smells, dirt.
Social level
- Rank / status: fame, glory, statusanzeigende title (king, servant, Sir, Prince, professor of commerce, aristocrat, ...), dignity // invalidated nouns (Lump, Jack, no-good, ...)
- Degree of socialization : duty, morality, decency, exemplary behavior, manners, loyalty, honesty, hard work, tradition, merit, honesty // falsehood corruption, shame, sin, bad customs, lies, reprehensibility, embarrassment
- Sociabilization : compassion, grace, mercy, understanding, forgiveness
Spiritual level
- Ability to think : Reason, cleverness, rationality, inventiveness and wealth of ideas // Naivety, recklessness, stupidity, folly, madness, intrigue
- Mental disposition : grumpy, sullen, critical, doubtful, religious, conservative, socialistic, materialistic
Dynamic quality
- Creativity, love, humor, grace, patience
literature
- Pirsig: Lila: or an attempt about morals (Original title: Lila: An Inquiry into Morals) (1991), ISBN 3-596-17169-5