Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T11:58:12.903Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE FITTING-ATTITUDE ANALYSIS OF VALUE RELATIONS AND THE PREFERENCES VS. VALUE JUDGEMENTS OBJECTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2017

Mauro Rossi
Mauro Rossi*
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Département de philosophie, C.P. 8888, Succursale centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3P8. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

According to Wlodek Rabinowicz's (2008) fitting-attitude analysis of value relations, two items are on a par if and only if it is both permissible to strictly prefer one to the other and permissible to have the opposite strict preference. Rabinowicz's account is subject, however, to one important objection: if strict preferences involve betterness judgements, then his analysis contrasts with the intuitive understanding of parity. In this paper, I examine Rabinowicz's three responses to this objection and argue that they do not succeed. I then propose an alternative solution. I argue that the objection can be avoided if we ‘relativize’ Rabinowicz's account and define parity in terms of opposite strict preferences between two items that are only relatively permissible, rather than permissible simpliciter. I argue that this account of parity can be defended if we take seriously the distinction between sufficient and decisive reason for a preference relation. I also show that, on the basis of this distinction, we can arrive at a more extensive taxonomy of value relations than the one proposed by Rabinowicz.

Keywords

ParityValue relationsFitting-attitude analysis of valuePreferences vs. Value Judgements objectionWlodek Rabinowicz
Type
Articles
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , July 2017 , pp. 287 - 311
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Brentano, F. 1889 [1969]. The Origin of Our Knowledge of Right and Wrong. Trans. and ed. Chisholm, R. and Schneewind, E.. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Originally published in German in 1889 as Vom Ursprung Sittlicher Erkenntnis. Leipzig: Dunker & Humboldt.Google Scholar
Chang, R. 1997. Introduction. In Incommensurability, Incomparability, and Practical Reason, ed. Chang, R., 1–34. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Chang, R. 2002. The possibility of parity. Ethics 112: 659–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, R. 2005. Parity, interval value, and choice. Ethics 115: 331–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancy, J. 2004. Enticing reasons. In Reason and Value: Themes from the Moral Philosophy of Joseph Raz, ed. Wallace, J., Pettit, P., Scheffler, S. and Smith, M., 91–118. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewing, A.C. 1947. The Definition of Good. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Gert, J. 2004. Value and parity. Ethics 114: 492–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbard, A. 1990. Wise Choices, Apt Feelings. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausman, D. 2012. Preference, Value, Choice, and Welfare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McDowell, J. 1985. Values and secondary qualities. In Morality and Objectivity, ed. Honderich, T., 110–129. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rabinowicz, W. 2008. Value relations. Theoria 74: 18–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowicz, W. 2009. Values compared. Polish Journal of Philosophy 3: 73–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowicz, W. 2011. Value relations – old wine in new barrels. In Philosophical Papers Dedicated to Kevin Mulligan, ed. Reboul, A.. Available online at: www.philosophie.ch/kevin/festschrift/.Google Scholar
Rabinowicz, W. 2012. Value relations revisited. Economics and Philosophy 28: 133–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabinowicz, W. and Rønnow-Rasmussen, R.. 2004. The strike of the demon: on fitting pro-attitudes and value. Ethics 114: 391–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raz, J. 1986. The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Scanlon, T. 1998. What We Owe To Each Other. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Tappolet, C. 2000. Émotions et valeurs. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.CrossRefGoogle Scholar