The Strike of the Demon: On Fitting Pro-attitudes
Author
Summary, in English
According to an influential tradition in value analysis, to be valuable is
to be a fitting object of a pro-attitude. If it is fitting to favor an object
for its own sake, then, on this view, the object has final value, that is, it
is valuable for its own sake. If it is fitting to have a pro-attitude toward
an object for the sake of its effects, then its value is instrumental. And
so on. Disvalue is connected in an analogous way to contra-attitudes
instead.
Apart from the linkage between value and attitudes, what is distinctive
for this kind of analysis, at least on some of its readings, is that
it establishes a connection between the axiological and the deontic
notions: value on this approach is explicated in terms of the stance that
should be taken toward the object. That it is fitting to have a certain
attitude, that there are reasons to have it, or that the attitude in question
is appropriate or called for, are different ways to express this deontic
claim. Consequently, an important advantage of the “fitting-attitudes”
analysis, or the FA analysis for short, is that it removes the air of mystery
from the normative ‘compellingness’ of values.
to be a fitting object of a pro-attitude. If it is fitting to favor an object
for its own sake, then, on this view, the object has final value, that is, it
is valuable for its own sake. If it is fitting to have a pro-attitude toward
an object for the sake of its effects, then its value is instrumental. And
so on. Disvalue is connected in an analogous way to contra-attitudes
instead.
Apart from the linkage between value and attitudes, what is distinctive
for this kind of analysis, at least on some of its readings, is that
it establishes a connection between the axiological and the deontic
notions: value on this approach is explicated in terms of the stance that
should be taken toward the object. That it is fitting to have a certain
attitude, that there are reasons to have it, or that the attitude in question
is appropriate or called for, are different ways to express this deontic
claim. Consequently, an important advantage of the “fitting-attitudes”
analysis, or the FA analysis for short, is that it removes the air of mystery
from the normative ‘compellingness’ of values.
Department/s
Publishing year
2004
Language
English
Pages
391-423
Publication/Series
Ethics
Volume
114
Issue
3
Full text
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Topic
- Philosophy
Keywords
- Conflation-problem Justin D'Arms Daniel Jacobson
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1539-297X