The science of value, or value science, is a creation of philosopher
Robert S. Hartman, which attempts to formally elucidate
value theory
Value theory, also called ''axiology'', studies the nature, sources, and types of Value (ethics and social sciences), values. It is a branch of philosophy and an interdisciplinary field closely associated with social sciences such as economics, ...
using both
formal
Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to:
Dress code and events
* Formal wear, attire for formal events
* Semi-formal atti ...
and
symbolic logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
.
Fundamentals
The fundamental principle, which functions as an
axiom
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or ...
, and can be stated in symbolic logic, is that ''a thing is good insofar as it exemplifies its concept''. To put it another way, "a thing is good if it has all its descriptive properties." This means, according to Hartman, that the good thing has a name, that the name has a meaning defined by a set of properties, and that the thing possesses all of the properties in the set. A thing is bad if it does not fulfill its description.
He introduces three basic dimensions of value, ''
systemic'', ''
extrinsic'' and ''
intrinsic'' for sets of properties—''perfection'' is to ''systemic value'' what ''goodness'' is to ''extrinsic value'' and what ''uniqueness'' is to ''intrinsic value''—each with their own
cardinality
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thum ...
: finite,
and
. In practice, the terms "good" and "bad" apply to finite sets of
properties
Property is the ownership of land, resources, improvements or other tangible objects, or intellectual property.
Property may also refer to:
Philosophy and science
* Property (philosophy), in philosophy and logic, an abstraction characterizing an ...
, since this is the only case where there is a ratio between the total number of desired properties and the number of such properties possessed by some object being valued. (In the case where the number of properties is
countably infinite
In mathematics, a set is countable if either it is finite or it can be made in one to one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, a set is ''countable'' if there exists an injective function from it into the natural numbe ...
, the ''extrinsic'' dimension of value, the ''
exposition'' as well as the mere definition of a specific concept is taken into consideration.)
Hartman quantifies this notion by the principle that ''each property of the thing is worth as much as each other property, depending on the level of abstraction''. Hence, if a thing has ''n'' properties, each of them—if on the same level of abstraction—is proportionally worth ''n''
−1.
Infinite sets of properties
Hartman goes on to consider infinite sets of properties. Hartman claims that ''according to a theorem of transfinite mathematics, any collection of material objects is at most denumerably infinite''.
[''The Structure of Value'', page 117] This is not, in fact, a theorem of mathematics. But, according to Hartman, people are capable of a
denumerably infinite set of predicates, intended in as many ways, which he gives as
. As this yields a notional
cardinality of the continuum
In set theory, the cardinality of the continuum is the cardinality or "size" of the set of real numbers \mathbb R, sometimes called the continuum. It is an infinite cardinal number and is denoted by \bold\mathfrak c (lowercase Fraktur "c") or \ ...
, Hartman advises that when setting out to describe a person, a continuum of properties would be most fitting and appropriate to bear in mind. This is the cardinality of ''intrinsic value'' in Hartman's system.
Although they play no role in ordinary mathematics, Hartman deploys the notion of
aleph number
In mathematics, particularly in set theory, the aleph numbers are a sequence of numbers used to represent the cardinality (or size) of infinite sets. They were introduced by the mathematician Georg Cantor and are named after the symbol he used t ...
reciprocals, as a sort of infinitesimal proportion. This, he contends goes to zero in the limit as the uncountable cardinals become larger. In Hartman's calculus, for example, the assurance in a
Dear John letter, that "we will always be friends" has axiological value
, whereas taking a metaphor literally would be slightly preferable, the
reification having a value of
.
Notes
{{Reflist
References
* Davis, John William, ed, ''Value and Valuation: Axiological Studies in Honor of Robert S. Hartman'', The University of Tennessee Press, 1972
* Hartman, Robert S., ''The Structure of Value: Foundations of Scientific Axiology'', Southern Illinois University Press, 1967
* Hartman, Robert S., "Application of the Science of Axiology," Ch. IX in Rem B. Edwards and John W. Davis, eds., Forms of Value and Valuation: Theory and Applications. Lanham, Md., University Press of America, 1991
* Hartman, Robert S., ''Freedom to Live,'' (Arthur R. Ellis, editor), Atlanta: Rodopi Editions, Value Inquiry Book Series, 1984, reissued 1994
* Hartman, Robert S., "Axiometric Structure of Intrinsic Value", ''Journal of Value Inquiry'' (Summer, 1974; v.8, no. 2, pp. 88–101
* Katz, Marvin C., ''Sciences of Man and Social Ethics,'' Boston, 1969, esp. pp. 9–45, 101–123.
* Katz, Marvin C., ''Trends Towards Synthesis in the Philosophy of Robert S. Hartman,'' Muskegon: Axiopress (142 pages 2004).
External links
Hartman Institute Axiometrics International, Incorporated--30 years of applied researchCenter for Applied AxioMetricsHow intangible values can actually be measured
Value (ethics)