Value System Analysis

Why there is a need for it

In Value - how to find it?, we have already identified the need for principles of value that can provide a higher sense of purpose to our lives, as well as to help guide our actions where our existing values are silent or in conflict. However, athough technology is developing rapidly, I am not aware of any tools to assist us in finding these principles of value. I think that this lack of tools is for three main reasons:

• Value principles come in systems: the reason that you believe a particular value principle (if you do) is because it forms part of a relatively coherent value system in which the value principle justifies and explains your basic values, and is itself probably justified by basic value assumptions and an associated belief system (for an explanation of this, see Value - how to find it?). Value systems are therefore often too complex to summarise, and their association with particular belief systems means that those belief systems need themselves to be clearly understood.

• Value principles are personal: since one's basic values and belief systems may differ between people, a value principle that ensures a reflective equilibrium for me may not ensure it for you. This makes it harder to discuss value principles since people are working from different and potentially irreconcilable starting points.

• Values are often unconscious: we are probably not aware of most of the basic values we hold, even though every decision has some value judgement behind it. For instance, many actions are motivated by the need to promote or maintain our self esteem. Our self esteem is based on the extent to which our self image fits our ideal image of how we think we should be. This ideal image is based on values, many of which we will have picked up from our parents and peers e.g. to be beautiful, intelligent, successful etc. If we ignore these unconscious values and only look at the obvious moral values that we hold, we may end up with higher value principles that we cannot fully act upon because they are not coherent with large parts of our personality. What is unconscious is by definition hard to find.

• Values are fixed: it may be argued that our values are fixed and so there is no point having a tool to change them. I do not think this is strictly true. Principles of value are certainly not fixed, otherwise people would not be able to join or leave religions. Our value intuitions are hard to change, but change is probably still possible. The reflective equilibrium method (that we saw in Value - how to find it), is based on the assumption that if you have found principles of value that are extremely coherent with all of your value intuitions except for one or two, then you will find those value intuitions changing to ensure full coherence. Experience gained from applying the Value System Search method will be able to test if this assumption is correct.

How it works

The method of Value System Analysis provides a solution to the first two problems. The first problem is resolved by showing value systems graphically, just as Belief System Analysis shows belief systems graphically. Values are put in boxes and the logical arguments connecting them are represented by arrows, so the apparent complexity is made simple. The linkages between one's value system and one's wider belief system are easy by using Value System Analysis and Belief System Anlaysis together. The second problem is resolved by the fact that the method allows you to create a value system that is most rational for you personally by allowing you to easily assess value systems against the three criteria for rationality given in Value - how to find it.


Tools

Value System Analysis consists of the following two tools:

• Value Maps: how to map out a value system in a way that can be clearly understood, and that allows analysis of how rational it is for you to adopt it.

• Value System Search: how Value Maps can be used to help people find a suitable value system.

The best software for Value System Analysis this is called Visual Concept. Microsoft Excel can also be used, but Visual Concept allows you to link boxes much faster and to create clusters of boxes which can be easily moved around.