Value theory

The project focuses on value analysis and in particular on the so-called ’formal axiology’ (formal value theory). The ambition is to study structural features of our value concepts - the logic of value, distinctions between different value types, classification of value relations, connections between value concepts and deontic notions (such as 'ought', 'reasons', 'right', 'wrong', etc.).

Discussions about value are common in many contexts. They often concern the choice of best means to realize or protect certain values, but sometimes they deal with more fundamental issues such as the existence of values, their nature and function within our world view. The philosophers who have attempted to systematize our conceptions of value have done it in primarily two ways. On the one hand, they have tried to identify the fundamental values we are prepared to recognize and, on the other, they have endeavoured to understand and clarify the conceptual framework for thinking about value. The former area is sometimes called substantive axiology (substantive value theory), while the latter, conceptual area can be subdivided into two relatively independent research fields. In one of them we find theories concerned with the semantic, epistemic and metaphysical nature of value judgments, and with the connections between such judgments and motivation. The other research field, which sometimes is called ’formal axiology’(formal value theory), focuses on the structural features of our value concepts - on the logic of value, the conceptual distinctions and connections between value types, the relations between value notions and deontic notions (such as 'ought', 'reasons', 'right', 'wrong', etc.).
The research project concentrates on problems in formal axiology, but other philosophical questions about value might also be touched upon.