por What are objective values?
The objective values are those values that can be perceived as such, regardless of culture and way of thinking that one has, that is, regardless of beliefs. This way of understanding values is typical of the axiological current called objectivism.
According to this current, value judgments are, in a certain sense, objective. Objectivism affirms that something is valuable without the need to be valued. The objects are independent of the observer.
They are also independent of subjective tastes, attitudes, preferences, interests, knowledge, and other factors. Health, well-being, security or prosperity are examples of objective values, since all the cultures of the world pursue and value them.
In this sense, values and norms reside in objects or in objective reality, as colors or temperatures do. According to objectivism, values are based on reality.
Characteristics of objective values
They are common in all human beings. They are rational: it is reasonable to have the value of safety or health. They are stable over time: people of all generations have them. They include beliefs, behaviors, and ways of thinking. They are the opposite of subjective values: those that vary between people. For example, one person may value wisdom, while another may value fun more.
objective value theory
Great philosophers have defended axiological objectivism, including Plato (427-347 BC), Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).
Plato
Plato, for example, argued forcefully for objective values such as truth, goodness, and beauty.
His ideas contrasted with those of the relativists. For some relativists, truth and goodness were notions relative to cultures. Others claimed that the truth of a judgment depended on the perception of individuals.
Max Scheler
Now, one of the thinkers who made the most contributions to the theory of objective values was the German Max Scheler (1874-1928). The main argument of his theory is that the value of an object is preceded by perception.
That is, the axiological reality of values exists before knowledge. Therefore, values are objective, immutable, a priori and non-formal.
Thus, values can only be felt, just as colors can only be seen. Scheler considered that reason cannot think values, and that the mind can only organize values in a hierarchy after they have been experienced.
Values were independent of the things that made them feel. As a consequence, a particular value could be experienced with a variety of objects. In this way, the whole experience already has a latent value. An object of perception, such as an oak, is not only green or big, but also nice, beautiful, and magnificent.
Experience objects are value carriers. Thus, historical artifacts have cultural values, while religious icons have the value of “it holy».
Objective values and subjective values
Those who defend the subjectivism of values affirm that nature has no value in itself. It only has value when it is related to the evaluation of the subjects.
Values, then, are built within what makes the assessment. For the objectivists, on the other hand, the value is independent of the valuation, opinions or interests of the subjects. This depends on the intrinsic and qualitative nature of an object.
However, some thinkers try to overcome this dichotomy between the objective (absolute) and the subjective (relative).
They hold that values have a non-dichotomous means/end relationship. Thus, values such as freedom or well-being can be both a means and an end.
The objective-subjective distinction is maintained with the qualification that some desires, even though they are subjective experiences, are objective values rather than mere whims. An example of this can be the desire to be useful and improve knowledge.
Examples of Objective Values
Study and excel in life. Help people with fewer resources. Build your own house. Start a business from the bottom and make it successful, with your own effort. Finish a project. Finish university studies. Being part of an organization important to humanity. Win a medal in a competition. Pass the university admission exam. Going to work in a recognized company, on their own merits, without help of any kind.
Themes of interest
Value types.
Human values.
Anti-values.
Universal values.
References
Plate II: Objective values. Retrieved from oregonstate.edu.
Max Scheller. Retrieved from newworldencyclopedia.org.