axiology of value

After considering the significance of value, in the axiological sense, I have arrived at an unexpected conclusion.  For something to have value, that object must first be referenced in some conceptual framework. No object innately possesses the qualities “good” or “bad,” that object can only be good or bad for something in a correlative framework.  An example of this would be to consider a rock.  Is a rock good or bad?  Well, some rocks are good for building, but this is only because there is an established framework with certain criteria concerning what qualifies as good building material. Without specifying any intended use, or some framework with which it can be referenced, the rock is not good or bad, right or wrong, it just is.  This theory may seem inconsequential, but there are deeper and clearly significant repercussions when applied to other metaphysical subjects.  For example, if something cannot have value outside of some conceptual framework, then there is no objective or absolute moral right and wrong. For an action to be considered a morally good action, that action must be good for someone or something.

Ethical Review

            To sum up my ethical views into one philosophy is a difficult task, as all ethical views have some flaw or principle that does not coincide with my own way of thinking.  I greatly appreciate Virtue ethics as personal growth and development is important to me.  After all is said and done, a person is nothing more than the knowledge that one has attained and then been able to pass on to others.  I am attracted to the altruism that Utilitarianism ethics offers, but such a teleological path cannot always provide adequate justice.  If one hundred voting people are in favor of slavery and only ten voters disapprove, does that then justify slavery?  For me to cast aside my moral beliefs because it will make more people happy is negligent of my own happiness and makes me a slave of the masses.  The Categorical Imperative, on the other hand, presents a deontological perspective that emphasizes intention over outcome.  The beauty of this ethical philosophy is that one can rest with an easy conscious because, as long as the motivation behind the action is pure and innocent, the act is justified regardless of the outcome.  To ignore the possible outcomes of my choice because my actions are in accordance with the social and cultural morays of a society is potentially harmful and limits personal decisiveness on a moral level.  I should be willing to think for myself and arrive at my own moral conclusions instead of relying on cultural conditioning to tell me what is right; I should also not be willing to allow the potential happiness of the masses to determine my course of action.