A value judgment (or normative judgement) is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something or someone, or of the usefulness of something or someone, based on a comparison or other relativity. As a generalization, a value judgment can refer to a judgment based upon a particular set of values or on a particular value system. A related meaning of value judgment is an expedient evaluation based upon limited information at hand, where said evaluation was undertaken because a decision had to be made on short notice. Judgmentalism may refer to an overly critical or moralistic attitude or behaviour.
Explanation
A value judgment is a thought about something based on what it "ought" or "should" be given an opinion about what counts as "good" or "bad" — a contrast from a thought based on what the facts are. E.g. "The government should improve access to education" is a value judgment (that education is good). "People will buy less of our products if our price goes up" is not a value judgment because it is based on the fact that people tend to buy less of a more expensive product. It can be used either in a positive sense, signifying that a judgment must be made taking a value system into account, or in a disparaging sense, signifying a judgment made by personal whim rather than objective thought or evidence.
In its positive sense, a recommendation to make a value judgment is an admonition to consider carefully, to avoid whim and impetuousness, and search for consonance with one's deeper convictions, and to search for an objective, verifiable, public, and consensual set of evidence for the opinion.
In its disparaging sense the term value judgment implies a conclusion is insular, one-sided, and not objective — contrasting with judgments based upon deliberation, balance, and public evidence.
Value judgment also can refer to a tentative judgment based on a considered appraisal of the information at hand, taken to be incomplete and evolving—for example, a value judgment on whether to launch a military attack or as to procedure in a medical emergency. In this case, the quality of judgment suffers because the information available is incomplete as a result of exigency, rather than as a result of cultural or personal limitations.
Most commonly the term value judgment refers to an individual's opinion. Of course, the individual's opinion is formed to a degree by their belief system and the culture to which they belong. So a natural extension of the term value judgment is to include declarations seen one way from one value system but may be seen differently from another. Conceptually this extension of the definition is related both to the anthropological axiom "cultural relativism" (that is, that cultural meaning derives from a context) and to the term "moral relativism" (that is, that moral and ethical propositions are not universal truths, but stem from cultural context). A value judgment formed within a specific value system may be parochial and may be subject to dispute in a wider audience.
Value-neutral
Value-neutral is a related adjective suggesting independence from a value system. The object itself is considered value-neutral when it is neither good nor bad, neither useful nor useless, neither significant nor trite until placed in some social context. For example, the classification of an object sometimes depends upon context: Whether or not an object is a tool or a weapon, or if human remains are an artifact or an ancestor.
Max Weber put forward one of the first concepts of value-neutrality.
A famous quote from mathematician G.H. Hardy indicates how he places the "value-neutral" subject of mathematics into a particular social context: "A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life".
For a discussion of whether technology is value neutral, see Martin and Schinzinger, and Wallace.
An item may have value and be value-neutral regardless of social context if its utility or importance is more-or-less self-evident, for example, oxygen supports life in all societies.
Value judgments and their context
Some argue that true objectivity is impossible, that even the most rigorous rational analysis is founded on the set of values accepted in the course of analysis. Consequently, all conclusions are necessarily value judgments (and therefore may be parochial). Of course, putting all conclusions in one category does nothing to distinguish between them, and is, therefore, a useless descriptor. Categorizing a conclusion as a value judgment takes substance when the context framing the judgment is specified.
As an example, scientific "truths" are considered objective but are held tentatively, with the understanding that more careful evidence and/or wider experience might change matters. Further, a scientific view (in the sense of a conclusion based upon a value system) is a value judgment that is socially constructed based upon rigorous evaluation and wide consensus. With this example in mind, characterizing a view as a value judgment is vague without a description of the context surrounding it.
However, as noted in the first segment of this article, in common usage the term value judgment has a much simpler meaning with context simply implied, not specified.
See also
- Ad hominem
- Aesthetic judgment
- Bias
- Critic
- Cultural relativism
- Defamation
- Fact–value distinction
- False accusation
- Immanent evaluation
- Moral relativism
- Normativity
- Presumption of guilt
- Understanding
Notes and references
- Oxford English Dictionary, judgementalism | judgmentalism, accessed on 28 October 2024
- Michael Scriven (KF Schaffner & RS Cohen, eds.) (1974). Philosophy of Science Association PSA: Boston studies in the philosophy of science, v. 20. Boston: Dordrecht:Reidel. p. 219 ff. ISBN 90-277-0408-2.
- Kristin Shrader-Frechette (Cohen, R.S., Gavroglou, K., Stachel, J.J., & Wartofsky, M.W., eds.) (1995). The case of Yucca Mountain: Science, politics and social practice. Dordrecht/New York: Springer. p. 204 ff. ISBN 0-7923-2989-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Bill Swainson; Anne H. Soukhanov (2000). Encarta Book of Quotations. Macmillan. p. 408. ISBN 0312230001.
- Mike W Martin & Schinzinger R (2005). Ethics in engineering (Fourth ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 279. ISBN 0-07-283115-4.
- Philip Russell Wallace (1991). Physics. World Scientific. Chapter 1. ISBN 9971-5-0930-X.
- Michael Scriven (1974). "Exact role of value judgments in science". In Kenneth F. Schaffner; Robert Sonné Cohen (eds.). Proceedings of the 1972 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. Springer. pp. 237 ff. ISBN 9027704082.
- Anna-Marie Cushan (2014) [1983]. Investigation into Facts and Values: Groundwork for a theory of moral conflict resolution (PDF). Ondwelle: Melbourne.
Further reading
- Bisztray, George (1987). "The Controversy over Value Neutrality in Sociology and Literature". Comparative Literature Studies. 24 (1): 40–57. ISSN 0010-4132. JSTOR 40246655.
A value judgment or normative judgement is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something or someone or of the usefulness of something or someone based on a comparison or other relativity As a generalization a value judgment can refer to a judgment based upon a particular set of values or on a particular value system A related meaning of value judgment is an expedient evaluation based upon limited information at hand where said evaluation was undertaken because a decision had to be made on short notice Judgmentalism may refer to an overly critical or moralistic attitude or behaviour ExplanationA value judgment is a thought about something based on what it ought or should be given an opinion about what counts as good or bad a contrast from a thought based on what the facts are E g The government should improve access to education is a value judgment that education is good People will buy less of our products if our price goes up is not a value judgment because it is based on the fact that people tend to buy less of a more expensive product It can be used either in a positive sense signifying that a judgment must be made taking a value system into account or in a disparaging sense signifying a judgment made by personal whim rather than objective thought or evidence In its positive sense a recommendation to make a value judgment is an admonition to consider carefully to avoid whim and impetuousness and search for consonance with one s deeper convictions and to search for an objective verifiable public and consensual set of evidence for the opinion In its disparaging sense the term value judgment implies a conclusion is insular one sided and not objective contrasting with judgments based upon deliberation balance and public evidence Value judgment also can refer to a tentative judgment based on a considered appraisal of the information at hand taken to be incomplete and evolving for example a value judgment on whether to launch a military attack or as to procedure in a medical emergency In this case the quality of judgment suffers because the information available is incomplete as a result of exigency rather than as a result of cultural or personal limitations Most commonly the term value judgment refers to an individual s opinion Of course the individual s opinion is formed to a degree by their belief system and the culture to which they belong So a natural extension of the term value judgment is to include declarations seen one way from one value system but may be seen differently from another Conceptually this extension of the definition is related both to the anthropological axiom cultural relativism that is that cultural meaning derives from a context and to the term moral relativism that is that moral and ethical propositions are not universal truths but stem from cultural context A value judgment formed within a specific value system may be parochial and may be subject to dispute in a wider audience Value neutral Value neutral is a related adjective suggesting independence from a value system The object itself is considered value neutral when it is neither good nor bad neither useful nor useless neither significant nor trite until placed in some social context For example the classification of an object sometimes depends upon context Whether or not an object is a tool or a weapon or if human remains are an artifact or an ancestor Max Weber put forward one of the first concepts of value neutrality A famous quote from mathematician G H Hardy indicates how he places the value neutral subject of mathematics into a particular social context A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities of wealth or more directly promotes the destruction of human life For a discussion of whether technology is value neutral see Martin and Schinzinger and Wallace An item may have value and be value neutral regardless of social context if its utility or importance is more or less self evident for example oxygen supports life in all societies Value judgments and their contextSome argue that true objectivity is impossible that even the most rigorous rational analysis is founded on the set of values accepted in the course of analysis Consequently all conclusions are necessarily value judgments and therefore may be parochial Of course putting all conclusions in one category does nothing to distinguish between them and is therefore a useless descriptor Categorizing a conclusion as a value judgment takes substance when the context framing the judgment is specified As an example scientific truths are considered objective but are held tentatively with the understanding that more careful evidence and or wider experience might change matters Further a scientific view in the sense of a conclusion based upon a value system is a value judgment that is socially constructed based upon rigorous evaluation and wide consensus With this example in mind characterizing a view as a value judgment is vague without a description of the context surrounding it However as noted in the first segment of this article in common usage the term value judgment has a much simpler meaning with context simply implied not specified See alsoPhilosophy portalWikiquote has quotations related to Value judgment Ad hominem Aesthetic judgment Bias Critic Cultural relativism Defamation Fact value distinction False accusation Immanent evaluation Moral relativism Normativity Presumption of guilt UnderstandingNotes and referencesOxford English Dictionary judgementalism judgmentalism accessed on 28 October 2024 Michael Scriven KF Schaffner amp RS Cohen eds 1974 Philosophy of Science Association PSA Boston studies in the philosophy of science v 20 Boston Dordrecht Reidel p 219 ff ISBN 90 277 0408 2 Kristin Shrader Frechette Cohen R S Gavroglou K Stachel J J amp Wartofsky M W eds 1995 The case of Yucca Mountain Science politics and social practice Dordrecht New York Springer p 204 ff ISBN 0 7923 2989 9 a href wiki Template Cite book title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Bill Swainson Anne H Soukhanov 2000 Encarta Book of Quotations Macmillan p 408 ISBN 0312230001 Mike W Martin amp Schinzinger R 2005 Ethics in engineering Fourth ed Boston McGraw Hill Professional p 279 ISBN 0 07 283115 4 Philip Russell Wallace 1991 Physics World Scientific Chapter 1 ISBN 9971 5 0930 X Michael Scriven 1974 Exact role of value judgments in science In Kenneth F Schaffner Robert Sonne Cohen eds Proceedings of the 1972 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association Springer pp 237 ff ISBN 9027704082 Anna Marie Cushan 2014 1983 Investigation into Facts and Values Groundwork for a theory of moral conflict resolution PDF Ondwelle Melbourne Further readingBisztray George 1987 The Controversy over Value Neutrality in Sociology and Literature Comparative Literature Studies 24 1 40 57 ISSN 0010 4132 JSTOR 40246655
