  Spiritual
This week: On Intrinsic Value Edited by: NaNoKit  
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What has value? How do we decide whether or not it does? And what are the consequences of those decisions?
This week's Spiritual Newsletter addresses value, life, and God.
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My newsletter this week may not be as lengthy as usual. I broke my finger, which makes typing somewhat awkward. It did make me realise just how much I use my individual fingers, and that put me in mind of the things in life that we value – and why we value them.
I can think of three ways we value things. The first is instrumental value – something that has value as a means towards something else. For example, people value money, because they can buy things with it. The second is subjective value – I like my cup of tea with milk and honey, but not everyone likes tea, nor that particular combination. Of course, my drink can also have instrumental value – it quenches my thirst, and I find it enjoyable. A subcategory of subjective value is personal value – a photograph of a loved one, a drawing made by your child, those are items that have a special, personal meaning to you, but not to most other people. And then there's my life. I value my own life, and would still do so even if nobody else did. I could also place my finger as an example here. Last but not least, there may or may not be things that have an intrinsic value. Something that isn't a means to an end, and, as the philosopher Ronald Dworking puts it, “... its value is independent of what people happen to enjoy or want or need or what is good for them.”
I would imagine that most people would place life in general in the last category. Many would even consider life sacred – a gift from God. And those of us who have a faith, would also consider God – as an entity, as a concept – to have intrinsic value. Even if none of us existed, even if our world no longer existed, even if there was nobody around any longer to acknowledge God or worship God, He would still be, and have a value of His own.
It is certainly true that many people don't believe in the existence of God. Therefore, they would disagree. And then there are those who do believe in God, or at least think that His existence is possible, and who don't actually like Him, or feel that they need Him, let alone want Him.
Intrinsic value can lead to some heated discussions, especially when it concerns life, or God. Does every life have an intrinsic value? What about the lives of other species? What about plants? What about one-celled organisms? Does nature itself have an intrinsic value? Should it be considered so as a whole, or in parts? What about human creations? Humans are part of nature, so can our creations be considered a part of nature? Do those creations have an intrinsic value as well?
As mentioned above, many people don't believe in God. Can they still consider a Being that they don't believe exists to have an intrinsic value because of that Being's influence on society, our laws, our history, and our future, through the faith of those who do believe? Does it matter that who and what is God differs from faith to faith? Does it matter that some acts carried out in the name of God have been harmful?
Whatever you views, I think you will agree that it is difficult to determine whether anything, or anyone, could have an intrinsic value in the eyes of all human beings, and therefore it is difficult to determine whether anything could have an intrinsic value at all, because if we don't value it, or others don't value it, of what can we say that it has a value in and of itself, even in complete isolation?
If we could come to such a decision, it would have enormous consequences for politics, law, and the societies we live in. If, for example, we decided that all life has an intrinsic value, we wouldn't be able to eat meat. More complicated than that, even... how would we deal with a virus? How would we clean our kitchens and bathrooms? That may sound silly, but if we ever find the answers to the deeper questions in life, those answers have to matter.
This is also the case if we decide that God has an intrinsic value. How would we treat faith, or a lack thereof, if this was the decision? Would we have to be more careful about what we do in His name?
I certainly don't have all the answers. However, I would be interested in your views.
kittiara
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Spiritual: February 25, 2015 Issue [#6849]
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