Population axiology

Population axiology is the study of the conditions under which one state of affairs is better than another, when the states of affairs in ques- tion may differ over the numbers and the identities of the persons who ever live. Extant theories include totalism, averagism, variable value theories, critical level theories, and “person-affecting” theories. Each of these the- ories is open to objections that are at least prima facie serious. A series of impossibility theorems shows that this is no coincidence: it can be proved, for various sets of prima facie intuitively compelling desiderata, that no axiology can simultaneously satisfy all the desiderata on the list. One’s choice of population axiology appears to be a choice of which intuition one is least unwilling to give up

People and Their Worth: Uniting Process and Axiology

This article argues that process philosophy and Hartmanian formal axiology are natural allies that can contribute much to each other. Hartmanian axiology can bring much needed order and clarity to process thought about the definitions of “good,” “better,” and “best,” about what things are intrinsically good, and about the nature and value of unique, enduring, individual persons. Process thought can bring to axiology greater clarity about and emphasis on the relational and temporal features of human selfhood. The nature and significance of personal endurance is emphasized throughout

Difficulties in Understanding the Autonomy of Science: Consequences of State Sovereignty

The importance of the autonomy of science is generally assumed to be good for the proper functioning of science. Yet, when we examine the notion more closely, various difficulties present themselves and cloud our understanding of this important concept. One such complication presents itself when we examine the relationship between science and the state. When examining the relationship between science and the state, there is an area of overlap that is called by Alvin Weinberg as trans-science. This concept contains within it an axiology of science that has bearing upon the scientific process itself. This leads us to ask, who determines the values in this axiology of science? In this paper I will argue that the state takes precedence in determining these values in the axiology of science which impacts science’s autonomy. To do this, I will first present an outline of what the concept of trans-science is. Next I will present the axiology of science and ways of determining it. Finally I will present the State’s role in determining these values

From an axiological standpoint

I maintain that intrinsic value is the fundamental concept of axiology. Many contemporary philosophers disagree; they say the proper object of value theory is final value. I examine three accounts of the nature of final value: the first claims that final value is non‐instrumental value; the second claims that final value is the value a thing has as an end; the third claims that final value is ultimate or non‐derivative value. In each case, I argue that the concept of final value described is either identical with the classical notion of intrinsic value or is not a plausible candidate for the primary concept of axiology

Transformation Into the “God”: Study of Critic–elaborative Axiology of Islamic Education with Philosophical Sufism

Melahirkan al-insan al-kamil merupakan tujuan tertinggi (ultimate aim) dari pendidikan Islam dan tasawuf falsafi. Konstruksi manusia ini bisa dimunculkan melalui pendidikan yang menginternalisasikan sifat-sifat ketuhanan dalam diri subjek pendidikan. Karenanya, antara filsafat pendidikan Islam dengan tasawuf falsafi memiliki relasi dialektis untuk mewujudkan manusia menjadi “Tuhan”. Oleh sebab itu, artikel ini fokus pada konstruksi tujuan pendidikan Islam dalam mewujudkan al-insan al-kamil yang memiliki kesamaan dengan tujuan tasawuf falsafi. Tujuannya, untuk menganalisis dan memahami konstruksi upaya transformasi manusia menjadi “Tuhan” sebagai orientasi aksiologis pendidikan Islam dan tasawuf falsafi. Karenanya, artikel ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan jenis penelitian kepustakaan untuk mengurai fokus dan tujuan riset tersebut. Sedangkan analisa data digunakan metode content analysis dan interpretasi. Artikel ini menyimpulkan bahwa proses mewujudkan tujuan pendidikan Islam yang diintegrasikan dengan tujuan tasawuf falsafi mampu mendorong lahirnya manusia ideal (al-insan al-kamil). Manusia yang memiliki kesempurnaan pada aspek intelektualitas, emosional, dan spiritualitas sebagai sosok khalifah maupun abdullah. Manusia model ini di dalam formulasi tasawuf falsafi merupakan manusia yang telah “menyatu” dengan Tuhan; atau manusia yang mentransformasi diri menjadi “Tuhan”. Implikasi praktis riset ini, pendidikan Islam pada dimensi teologis-filosofis harus terus menyatukan orientasi aksiologis (pendidikan Islam dan tasawuf falsafi) untuk diaplikasikan dalam proses pembelajaran pendidikan agama Islam

Population Ethics under Risk

Population axiology concerns how to evaluate populations in terms of their moral goodness, that is, how to order populations by the relations “is better than” and “is as good as”. The task has been to find an adequate theory about the moral value of states of affairs where the number of people, the quality of their lives, and their identities may vary. So far, this field has largely ignored issues about uncertainty and the conditions that have been discussed mostly pertain to the ranking of risk-free outcomes. Most public policy choices, however, are decisions under uncertainty, including policy choices that affect the size of a population. Here, we shall address the question of how to rank population prospects—that is, alternatives that contain uncertainty as to which population they will bring about—by the relations “is better than” and “is as good as”. We start by illustrating how well-known population axiologies can be extended to population prospect axiologies. And we show that new problems arise when extending population axiologies to prospects. In particular, traditional population axiologies lead to prospect-versions of the problems that they praised for avoiding in the risk-free settings. Finally, we identify an intuitive adequacy condition that, we contend, should be satisfied by any population prospect axiology, and show how given this condition, the impossibility theorems in population axiology can be extended to (non-trivial) impossibility theorems for population prospect axiology

The Incoherence of Moral Relativism

Abstract: This paper is a response to Park Seungbae’s article, “Defence of Cultural Relativism”. Some of the typical criticisms of moral relativism are the following: moral relativism is erroneously committed to the principle of tolerance, which is a universal principle; there are a number of objective moral rules; a moral relativist must admit that Hitler was right, which is absurd; a moral relativist must deny, in the face of evidence, that moral progress is possible; and, since every individual belongs to multiple cultures at once, the concept of moral relativism is vague. Park argues that such contentions do not affect moral relativism and that the moral relativist may respond that the value of tolerance, Hitler’s actions, and the concept of culture are themselves relative. In what follows, I show that Park’s adroit strategy is unsuc-cessful. Consequently, moral relativism is incoherent