Judgment of value

Summary

Dominique Pagani defines the value judgement in contrast to the judgement of existence. The judgement of existence is objective, and a measurement is enough to settle it. The value judgement, by contrast, presupposes the function the thing serves: it only makes sense if one specifies the end being pursued1. It also involves an investment on the part of the subject and cannot leave aside the one who judges2. He draws a consequence from this regarding music: saying that a piece of music does not please me tells something about me, not about the music3. He also points out a common confusion. When calling something "useful" or "useless", one believes one is stating a judgement of existence, whereas one is making a value judgement, since these terms only hold in relation to an end4. From 2015 to 2021, this distinction recurs without notable variation in sessions devoted to music, to Plato and to the sciences of history.

1. 1The music of history26 Apr 2015 · 48:18
2. 2#2.5 Between crisis and war: philosophising?1 Aug 2017 · 1:25:05
3. 3The music of history26 Apr 2015 · 50:19
4. 4#9.16 How can sciences of history be real?4 Mar 2021 · 1:21:02

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.