A Study on the Hierarchy of Values
Tong-Keun Min
Chung Nam National University
Chung Nam National University
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ABSTRACT: I attempt to
look into the issue of the ranks of values comprehensively and progressively.
Anti-values can be classified into
the following six categories by ascending order:
1. the
act of destroying the earth-of annihilating humankind and all other living
organisms;
2.
the act of mass killing of people by
initiating a war or committing treason;
3.
the act of murdering or causing death
to a human being;
4.
the act of damaging the body of a
human being;
5.
the act of greatly harming society;
6. all
other crimes not covered by the above.
Higher values can be classified into
the following five categories in descending rank:
1. absolute
values such as absolute truth, absolute goodness, absolute beauty and
absolute holiness;
2.
the act of contributing to the
development and happiness of humankind;
3.
the act of contributing to the nation
or the state;
4.
the act of contributing to the
regional society;
5. the
act of cultivating oneself and managing one's family well.
Generally, people tend to pursue
happiness more eagerly than goodness, but because goodness is the higher
value than happiness, we ought to pursue goodness more eagerly. In helping
people to get the right sense of values and to internalize it, education and
enlightenment of citizens based on the guidance of conscience rather than
compulsion will be highly effective.
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1. Classification of Values
I will discuss what kinds
of values exist, before talking about their hierarchy. Walter Goodnow Everett
classified values into the following eight categories;
1. economic
values,
2. bodily
values,
3. value of
recreation,
4. value of
association,
5. character
values,
6. aesthetic
values,
7. intellectual
values,
8. religious
values.
Everett's classification
does not cover all the values in our life. To this we can add political values,
social values, legal values, cultural values moral values, educational values,
scholastic values, industrial values, athletic values, values of life, medical
values, values of language, technical values and emotional values. In addition
to values in our life, things have natural values, whether they are directly
related to us humans or not.
The nature system such as
the universe, the solar system, the earth is composed of time, space and
material, and is the most basic world of existence which provides living
organisms with the base for their existence. If there is no land, water, air or
light, the universe will become an empty space, in which no life can exist.
The nature system generates
living organisms, letting them grow or become extinct, by physically sustaining
its constant state or changing itself, or chemically combining or dissolving
its various elements. The stars are moving, exploding or transforming
themselves in the apparently boundless universe by unmeasurable mysterious
power. The stars have limitless power and values over the humans as well as all
the other living organisms on the earth. These stars have values of sustenance
and change, values of combination and dissolution, values of conservation and
generation, and values of standstill and movement. Weight, energy, objects and
light realize various values.
Thus the nature system has
many values which constitute the base for the existence of the humans. Values
can be classified as follows by their qualities;
(1) individual
values and social values,
(2) natural
values and artificial values,
(3) physical
values and mental values,
(4) instrumental
values and intrinsic values,
(5) temporary
values and permanent values,
(6) exclusive
values and universal values,
(7) lower
values and higher values,
(8) unproductive
values and productive values,
(9) active
values and inactive values,
(10)
personal values and
impersonal values,
(11) theoretical values and practical values,
(12)
relative values and
absolute values, and so on.
Values are indeed manifold
and countless, and values in our life are interconnected. For example, artistic
values and social values depend on physical values, because we cannot do
artistic or social activities without our lives or bodies. Science, education
and political activities depend, more or less, on economic values, because we
need some degree of economic support for our social life. Conversely, we know
that intellectual values and political values influence our economy as some
remarkable talent or excellent policy can make a home or a nation prosperous.
2. Hierarchy of Values
In this chapter, I will
think about the hierarchy of various values in this world, that is, the
question of what is the highest value and what is the lowest value.
First of all, M. Scheler (1874-1928)
presented the following five principles in deciding the rank of values;
First, the longer the value
lasts, the higher it is. For example, while the value of pleasure lasts for the
duration of the feeling of pleasure, the mental value remains after the
disappearance of the circumstances. (timelessness);
Second, the harder it is to
reduce the quality of the value as its carrier (Werttrager) divides or the
harder it is to increase the quality of the value as its carrier enlarges, the
higher the value is. For example, while the value of material goods reduces as
the goods divide, the value of mental goods is indivisible and not related to
the number of people concerned. (indivisiblity);
Third, the higher value
becomes the base for the lower value. The fewer other values the value has as
its base, the higher it is. (independence);
Fourth, there is an
intrinsic relationship between the rank of the value and the depth of
satisfaction from its realization. In other words, the deeper the satisfaction
connected to the value is, the higher the value is. For example, the physical
satisfaction is strong but shallow. On the contrary, the satisfaction from
artistic meditation is a deep experience. The depth of satisfaction is not
related to its strength. (depth of satisfaction);
Fifth, the less the sense
of the value is related to the existence of its carrier, the higher the value
is. For example, the value of pleasure has significance in relation to the
sense of sensuality. The value of life exists for those with the sense of life,
but the moral value exists absolutely and independently from those who feel it.
(absoluteness).
In accordance with the
above principles, Scheler classified the values into the following four categories
(from the bottom to the top);
(1) the value
of pleasure and displeasure (the emotional value),
(2) the value
of the sense of life (and welfare as a subsidiary value to it),
(3) the
mental value (perception, beauty, justice),
(4) the value
of holiness.
Further he divided the
mental value into the value of beauty, the value of justice, and the value of
perceiving the truth. The value of holiness was strictly distinguished from all
the other values, which were thought to be given as the symbols of the value of
holiness.
Thus Scheler suggested five
principles, by which the ranks of values can be decided, and presented four
levels of values. This idea is very instrumental in deciding the ranks of
values. He placed the durable mental values higher than the temporary physical
values, put the mental goods higher than the material goods, placed the
satisfaction from artistic meditation above the material satisfaction,
appreciated the value of the sense of life more highly than the emotional value
of pleasure and displeasure, and placed the mental value of perception, beauty,
and justice higher than the value of the sense of life. This is an excellent
idea that can offer the right sense of values for some contemporary people with
the mistaken sense of values.
Scheler's idea of values
was succeeded by Nicolai Hartmann (1882-1950), who left a number of creative
papers on this subject. Emphasizing that we just started the study of values,
he said that it was very difficult to decide on the ranks of values. He also
said that the hierarchy of values was formed objectively and never changed.
He said that the analysis
of values clearly showed difference in the ranks of values in a small range.
For example, the love of neighbors (Nachstenliebe) is higher in terms of
quality than honesty, and the love of remote people(Fernstenliebe) is higher
than the love of neighbors. The love of persons (Personliche Liebe) is higher
than the love of neighbors or the love of remote people. Likewise, courage is
higher than self-denial. Credit and Faith are higher than courage. The virtue
of giving (Schenkende Tugend) and good personality are higher than credit and
faith. He suggested goodness (das Gute), nobility (das Edle), fullness (die
Fuelle) and purity (die Reinheit) as fundamental ethical values.
He also talked about the
relationship between the height and the strength of the value. He said that the
higher value was weak, but the lower value was strong. The higher value is
structurally complex, but the lower value is elementary. Something elementary
is strong. The betrayal of the lower value is a more serious sin than the
betrayal of the higher value. The realization of the higher value is more
valuable than that of the lower value. For example, murder is the most serious
crime, but the respect for others' lives is not the highest virtue. The
property is the value lower than kindness, but the infringement of the property
is more severely condemned than unfriendliness. The betrayal of the lower value
is shameful(schimpflich), but the realization of the lower value is taken for
granted. Even if one betrays the higher value, he (or she) will not lose honor.
However, if one realizes the higher value, he (or she) will be praized. Thus
the height of the value and its strength are different from each other.
Here are examples in which
Hartmann arranged values by their height. He arranged honesty, integrity, the
love of neighbors, unconditional faith, the love of remote people and the
virtue of giving by their height. Honesty is the lowest among these and the
virtue of giving is the highest. Furthermore, the anti-values corresponding to
these values can be illustrated as follows; dishonesty (for example theft),
lie, the lack of love for neighbors, inability for unconditional faith, the
lack of love for remote people, the lack of the virtue of giving. The strength
is in the same order. That is, dishonest is the strongest anti-value, while the
lack of the virtue of giving is the weakest. Theft as dishonesty is a crime and
the lowest anti-value. A lie is not a crime but it is related to honor, while
the lack of love is not a matter of honor. Inability for unconditional faith is
just a moral defect, and the lack of love for remote people or the lack of the
virtue of giving is not a defect at all.
Bearing in mind these
ideas, I will look into the issue of the ranks of values more comprehensively
and more progressively. Hartmann's remarks that the higher value is weak and
the lower value is strong can be appreciated as grasping values ontologically.
This can easily be understood if we get to know his idea of layered existence
in which he understood the world in layers and divided the world of existence
into four levels, which constituted four layers of existence(Seinsschicht).
He said
that there were
1. (1) the
layer of mental existence,
2. (2) the
layer of conscious existence,
3. (3) the
layer of live existence and
4. (4) the
layer of physical existence. In the layer of mental existence are the humans,
in the layer of conscious existence are the higher animals, in the layer of
live existence are the plants, and in the layer of physical existence are the
lifeless things.
(1) The
humans include all the four layers of existence in themselves and are
understood as concrete objects assembling these in a peculiar way.
(2) The
higher animals are the aggregates of the layers of physical, live and conscious
existence.
(3) The
plants are the aggregates of the layers of physical and live existence.
(4) The
lifeless things include only the layer of physical existence.
The layer of physical
existence is the lowest but most basic layer of existence on which all the
living organisms in the world live. If this layer of physical existence is
destroyed, all the living organisms as well as all the precious mental and
cultural heritage of the mankind will disappear at the same time. Therefore,
the conservation of the layer of physical existence is very important.
Hartmann said that murder
was the most serious crime, but more review is required on the act of murder.
As for murder, there are the act of individual murder by an offender, the mass
destruction of humans by a war, or, in the modern era, the act of annihilating
the mankind as well as all the living organisms in the world by nuclear
weapons. Considering the destructive power of nuclear weapons held by some
countries, which can turn the surface of the earth into ashes, the act of
provoking a nuclear war or that of destroying the earth is the most serious
crime. Thus the act of destroying the earth and annihilating the mankind as
well as all the living organisms is the most serious crime and the most
dreadful anti-value.
The second lowest
anti-value is the killing of a number of people by the crime against the state
or the nation. The nation states are among the largest organizations made by
humans in terms of geographical size or the number of people.
The act of a ruler who, by
using a large organization as the state, initiates a war and causes the nation
to lose its lives and properties and suffer from the loss of the war, is
clearly the crime against the nation or the people. To drive the nation toward
a war under the pretext of the prosperity for the nation or the state and kill
the people of another state is clearly the low anti-value as an act of
genocide. In the past, belligerent kings or rulers, who were very good at
martial art or military strategy and frequently invaded other states, were
often praized as heroes and respected as objects of adoration, but that should
be considered the mistaken sense of value. The person who defends the nation
and the state from the invasion of another nation or state, is of course a hero
and patriot whose patriotism and courage should be highly appreciated.
The act of treason against
the nation and the state, which leads to the loss of a number of lives of the
people, is also a very low anti-value. This kind of serious crime against the
state is the act of destroying a group of values of life and the more
comprehensive act of killing or injuring than that of killing or injuring an
individual. The serious crime against the state becomes directly or indirectly
the act of destroying many values. It destroys values of life, bodily values as
well as artistic, religious, political, economic, cultural, social and
industrial values.
The third lowest anti-value
is the act of murdering a human. The act of murdering or causing to death a
human is the act of destroying the life and body of the human and is heavily
punishable up to death penalty under the Korean Criminal Code like the crime
against the state.
The next is the act of
damaging the human body through violence and other means. The act of damaging
the life or the body, which is the base for human existence, is clearly the low
anti-value.
The low anti-value next to
the act of damaging the human body is the act of destroying the public security
and order and harming a number of people such as arson, traffic violation, etc.
In addition to these, there are numerous immoral crimes including crimes
relating to the properties, which are basic and essential for human life, such
as theft, fraud, etc.
The above
anti-values can be classified into the following six categories by the ranks
from the lowest one:
(1) The act
of destroying the earth, the act of annihilating the mankind and all the other
living organisms
(2) The act
of mass killing of people by initiating a war or committing treason
(3) The act
of murdering or causing to death a human
(4) The act
of damaging the body of a human
(5) The act
of greatly harming the society
(6) All the
other crimes not covered by the above
When we are preoccupied by
the evil, ugly, dirty anti-values which are committed by humans, it is easy to
have prejudices or misperceptions that everybody in this world seems to be
wrong and evil. Those who usually handle offenders in the court are prone to
suspect others as offenders.
On the contrary, if we
observe the humans and the society, we cannot ignore the fact that the human
has a dual aspect. E. Durkheim (1858-1917), a French positive sociologist,
advocated the dual nature of the human. While the human is a selfish being with
desires, he (or she) is also a moral, religious being. While the human is a
being of sense and sensual thinking, he (or she) is also a being of reason and
conceptual thinking. There is a confrontation between holiness and filthiness,
and there is a duality of the individual and the society. There is a
confrontation between selfishness and morals in the human mind. In the society,
there are good persons and bad ones, good deeds and crimes, and justice and
injustice.
Now I
proceed to think about right, good, beautiful, holy and wonderful higher values.
First of all, I will think
about absolute values as the highest values. Plato (B.C.427-347) said that
there was absolute justice, absolute beauty and absolute goodness, and there was
absolute greatness (as the essence or nature of everything), health and power.
The above-mentioned absolute justice, absolute beauty and absolute goodness can
be considered absolute values, but at the present time truth in logic, goodness
in morality, beauty in art and holiness in religion are generally considered
absolute values. Thus it can be said that absolute truth, absolute goodness,
absolute beauty and absolute holiness constitute the system of absolute values
as the highest values.
On the highest goodness or
absolute goodness, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) said that the highest goodness as
the inevitable highest goal of the will as morally prescribed was the genuine
object of practical reason. He also said that the highest absolute goodness
could be found in the will of the rational being. It would be difficult to
realize absolute goodness, which could be found only in the will of the
rational being. Absolute truth, absolute beauty and absolute holiness could be
found in the will or the mind of the wise, artistic or noble being.
The second highest values
are the acts of guiding the mankind to the right road or giving happiness to
them. The acts of Confucius, Buddha, Jesus Christ or Socrates belong to this
category. The acts of Edison, Beethoven or the sculptor who made Venus of Milo
also belong to it. These people, through the religious, educational, scientific
or artistic activities, saved the mankind, taught them the immortal truth, told
them the lofty ideal or gave them happiness of artistic meditation.
The third highest values
are the acts of contributing to the nation or the state. Aristotle (B.C.384-332)
said that, although it was worthwhile to realize the personal goal, it was more
beautiful and nobler to realize the goal of the nation or that of the city
state, and he added that it was this goal that we studied scientifically, which
was in a sense what politics pursued. It is more worthwhile and more valuable
to do good things for the nation or the state than to do good things for an
individual.
The fourth highest values
are the acts of contributing to the development of the village or the work
place or the school, etc. Although the acts contribute only to the small
society or group, not covering the wide range of the nation or the state, they
are also very valuable. The acts are those of helping others, or contributing
to the regional society, the work place or the school, but basically it is
necessary to observe the rules of the society, the work place or the school.
Lower than the above, the
next category of values in the hierarchy of values are the acts of cultivating
oneself and govern a household. It is very important to carry out the virtues
of self-denial, moderation, or perseverance.
Socrates (B.C. 470-399)
said that the virtue of a man was to govern the state well and the virtue of a
woman was to govern the family well. That was only because the man mainly did
external activities and the woman mainly did activities relating to the family
at that time. It is of course the virtue for a man to govern the family well.
In the teachings of Confucius, cultivating oneself was the basic value and the
value of benefiting the world was put in the highest place, and in between
there were the values of managing well the family and the state.
The above-mentioned values
can be classified into the following five categories by the ranks from the
highest one:
(1) absolute
values such as absolute truth, absolute goodness, absolute beauty, and absolute
holiness
(2) the act
of contributing to the development and happiness of the mankind
(3) the act
of contributing to the nation or the state
(4) the act
of contributing to the regional society, social organizations, the work place,
the school etc.
(5) the act
of cultivating oneself and managing the family well.
According to this hierarchy
of values, we can easily understand that the act of benefiting oneself is the
most basic value and the act of benefiting neighbors, the state, the nation or
the mankind is the higher value.
However, as the human has
the greedy, selfish and evil character as well as the moral, religious, good
and holy character, he or she is often inclined to pursue the lower value and
not to pursue the higher value. Driven by the mistaken sense of values, the
human often pursues the lower values such as emotional pleasure, the wealth and
shuns the moral or religious values. As Aristotle said earlier, people believe
that a certain degree of virtues are well enough, but they endlessly pursue the
wealth, money, power and reputation.
Money and the wealth must
be the basic things for our survival and life, but these are not the highest
value but the lower value. Because the moral, artistic, religious values are
higher than the economic value, and, moreover, truth, goodness, beauty and
holiness are the highest values, we ought to pursue such higher values.
Yet because the human has the
very strong emotional desire and the desire to possess, he or she is inclined
to endlessly pursue the wealth, money and power rather than the virtues or the
public welfare. Thus we first ought to make efforts to become a righteous and
virtuous human and pursue the wealth, money or power in a just way.
Immanuel Kant's remarks
"der bestirnte Himmel ueber mir und das moralische Gesetz in mir"
show us his firm Western moral spirit. Kant clearly said that the good was
different from pleasure, and he also said that the highest goodness was the
genuine object of practical reason and the highest virtue as the first element
of the highest goodness constituted moralism, but happiness constituted the
second element of the highest goodness. Such words show us which one of
goodness and happiness is higher as the value. Generally speaking, people tend
to pursue happiness more eagerly than goodness, but because goodness is the
higher value than happiness, we ought to pursue goodness more eagerly.
People generally pursue their
own happiness and want others to be perfect, but they ought to pursue their own
perfection and others' happiness. Because people want others to be perfect for
the formers' own happiness, they blame others for the formers' unhappiness.
We ought to have goodness
as our highest goal and others' happiness as our goal. Yet I do not mean that
we should not mind our just happiness at all. In the past, the natural desire
of the human was often considered bad and not to be pursued, while complete
self-denial was considered a virtue. That should be corrected in the modern
era.
For example, the moral
value is higher than the economic value, but the desire to be rich or work
diligently should not be regarded as unjust. We know the words by King Solomon
or Saint Paul on the wealth and diligence. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) annotated
the thesis by Saint Paul that those who do not work should not eat.
R. Baxter (1615-1691), a
typical British Puritan, considered the wealth to be very dangerous and
seductive but the writings of Puritans said that taking a rest with the wealth,
laziness and lust caused by the enjoyment of the wealth, especially the
deviation from the efforts for a holy life should be morally rejected and the
waste of time is a serious sin. After all Protestantism did not view
self-denial and the acquisition of the property as contradictory to each other.
Protestantism taught that
people should work together with diet, vegetarianism, and cold shower. It is
well known that as a result of the pioneer spirit and diligence of the
Protestants, many countries or regions where many Protestants live have become
economically advanced or rich. There is a saying that a miserly rich man is
better than a generous poor man, which is because the poor man does not have
the wealth to help others with. Thus, in this modern era, we should duly
realize our just desire while controlling our unjust desire, and contribute to
the prosperity and development of the individual, the family, the society, the
state, the nation and the mankind. By duly realizing the sexual desire,
appetite, and desire to possess, we can give birth to a human, help the human
existence, and enrich the human life.
Therefore, we ought to keep
in mind that promoting other's happiness, cultivating our good character, duly
fulfilling our duties and contributing to the prosperity and development of the
society, the state, the nation, and the mankind are the higher values.
3. Conclusion
I classified the
anti-values into six categories and the higher values into five categories, all
with the ranks.
The word "value"
has originated from the economic field, but the value is different from the
price. It is difficult to convert the value into the price, and it is not easy
to put the price on life. The price is the exchange value and it is different
from time to time, from place to place, from people to people, and is
constantly changeable.
No price or the cheap price
does not necessarily mean no value or the small value. For example, we do not
put the price on air, but it is very valuable for us. Water or tap water is
cheap, but it is essential for human life and has the almost boundless value
for us. Land, the sun, and light also have the boundless and essential value
for the existence of humans, animals, and plants. Therefore, the air pollution,
the water pollution, and the destruction of the ecological system are very
grave anti-values, threatening the existence of the humans and other living
organisms.
We now face not only the
environmental pollution but also difficult problems such as human alienation
and unemployment, the depletion of natural resources, crimes, drug addiction,
the disintegration of the family, the deviation of youths and the mistreatment
of the elderly, the inequality of distribution, the threat of weapons of
mass-destruction, the disruption of the sense of values, etc.
The solution of these
problems would require not only the individual efforts but also the efforts and
cooperation of social organizations, government agencies, and, furthermore, international
organizations.
In helping people to get
the right sense of values and internalize it, education and enlightenment of
citizens based on the guidance of conscience rather than compulsion will be
highly effective.
Bearing in mind the ideas
of some scholars on the classification and hierarchy of values, I have tried to
look into the issue of the ranks of values more comprehensively and more
progressively. The anti-values can be classified into the following six categories
by the ranks from the lowest one;
(1) The act
of destroying the earth, the act of annihilating the mankind and all the other
living organisms,
(2) the act of mass killing of people by
initiating a war or committing treason,
(3) the act
of murdering or causing to death a human,
(4) the act
of damaging the body of a human,
(5) the act
of greatly harming the society,
(6) all the other crimes not covered by the above.
Then, the higher values can
be classified into the following five categories by the ranks from the highest one;
(1) absolute
values such as absolute truth, absolute goodness, absolute beauty, and absolute
holiness
(2) the act
of contributing to the development and happiness of the mankind,
(3) the act
of contributing to the nation or the state
(4) the act
of contributing to the regional society
(5) the act
of cultivating oneself and managing the family well.
Generally speaking, people
tend to pursue happiness more eagerly than goodness, but because goodness is
the higher value than happiness, we ought to pursue goodness more eagerly. In
helping people to get the right sense of values and internalize it, education
and enlightenment of citizens based on the guidance of conscience rather than
compulsion will be highly effective.
