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    If Ross claims knowledge is not intrinsically valuable bu... — Carmelics
    Home/Truth & Knowledge
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    If Ross claims knowledge is not intrinsically valuable but intellectual activities are, then Ross cannot consistently claim that an intellectual activity is better when it issues in knowledge.

    Truth & Knowledge
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.For Ross, intrinsic value is value a thing has in itself, independent of its relations to other things.
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    • 2.If knowledge enhances the value of an activity only through its relational connection to that activity, then knowledge bears instrumental, not intrinsic, value.
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    • 3.Claiming activity A is better than activity B because A produces knowledge entails knowledge contributes value beyond the activity itself, contradicting Ross's restriction of intrinsic goodness to the activity alone.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.G.E. Moore's principle of organic unities holds that the value of a whole need not equal the sum of its parts' values.
      ?

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    • 2.Ross explicitly distances himself from Moore's organic unity principle when assigning intrinsic value to discrete goods like virtue, pleasure, and intellectual activity.
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    • 3.Without appeal to organic unity, Ross has no principled mechanism to explain why knowledge-issuing activity is better without granting knowledge independent intrinsic worth.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Ross holds that intellectual activities are intrinsically good, not knowledge itself.
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    • 2.Saying an activity is better when it issues in knowledge implies knowledge has intrinsic value.
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    • 3.These two positions are in tension.
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    Truth & Knowledge

    Key Terms

    Intellectual activities(what Ross claims has value according to the statement)
    Things you do that involve thinking, learning, or using your mind—like reading, solving puzzles, or having deep conversations.
    Issues in(describing when an intellectual activity produces knowledge)
    Results in or leads to; when something 'issues in' a particular outcome, it means that's what comes out of it.
    Ross(as referenced in ethics)
    W.D. Ross, a 20th-century philosopher who argued that we have multiple moral duties (like honesty and keeping promises) that sometimes conflict, and we must figure out which is strongest in each situation.
    consistently claim(as used in logic and philosophy)
    Say something is true in a way that doesn't contradict itself or your other beliefs.
    intrinsically valuable(Contrasted with instrumental value; used to assess whether knowledge or intellectual activity is the proper locus of value in Ross's ethics.)
    Valuable in and of itself, not merely as a means to some further good.
    knowledge(Distinguished from mere true belief, which may be the product of indoctrination and need not exercise deliberative capacities.)
    Justified true belief — true belief that has been arrived at through the exercise of deliberative capacities, including comparison of and deliberation among alternatives.

    Connections

    1 topic

    Virtue Ethics1 linked

    Related

    Claiming activity A is better than activity B because A produces knowledge entai...For Ross, intrinsic value is value a thing has in itself, independent of its rel...G.E. Moore's principle of organic unities holds that the value of a whole need n...If knowledge enhances the value of an activity only through its relational conne...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: william-david-ross
    View source passageHide passage
    This reply might cause Ross problems. If he says knowledge is not intrinsically valuable but intellectual activities are, he cannot say an activity of the mind is better when it issues in knowledge (FE 270; Shaver 2011, 134n34). Perhaps Ross will have to say intellectual activities leading to knowledge are better, not because knowledge is itself good, but because of its instrumental properties, e.g., knowledge might lead us to being most effective at promoting justice or virtue or pleasure. A fo
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    +5 moreShow less
    Ross explicitly distances himself from Moore's organic unity principle when assi...Ross holds that intellectual activities are intrinsically good, not knowledge it...Saying an activity is better when it issues in knowledge implies knowledge has i...These two positions are in tension.Without appeal to organic unity, Ross has no principled mechanism to explain why...

    Similar

    Ross holds that intellectual activities are intrinsically good, not kn...91%The claim that intellectual activities are intrinsically good explains...89%Saying an activity is better when it issues in knowledge implies knowl...87%The value of intellectual activities explains the value of knowledge.84%
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit