![]() ![]() When people make evaluations about the goodness of something, it implies that they should do it. It is based on a descriptive claim (“the weather today is sunny”), but it interprets this fact and ascribes a value to it (“sunshine is good for mental health”) in a way that prescribes an action (“I should go outside”). For example, “I should go outside to get some sunshine” is an evaluative claim. Instead of simply describing, evaluative claims interpret facts or assert what should be the case.Įvaluative claims can be prescriptive-that is, they state what should be the case or what people ought to do in a given situation. ![]() They express judgments of value: what is good, just, fair, beautiful, healthy, important, etc. Evaluative Claims: How the World Ought to BeĮvaluative claims make statements about how the world ought to be. For example, “the weather today is sunny” is a descriptive claim because it simply describes what someone observes. They describe the facts of something, what you observe to be the case without any form of evaluation or judgment. Descriptive Claims: How the World Isĭescriptive claims make statements about how the world is. Descriptive claims are statements about matters of fact, whereas evaluative claims express a judgment about something’s value. People talk about facts using descriptive claims and values using evaluative claims. One way to think about the difference between facts and values is through the different types of claims you can make about them. This section will give an overview of the fact-value distinction by examining the types of claims you can make about facts and values and how facts and values are related to or distinct from each other. For this reason, the fact-value distinction is an important place to begin. This statement describes the way people think things should be, not the way the world is. For example, the statement “killing an innocent person is bad” may seem like a fact, but it is not a description of how things are. It can be easy to mistake a value for a fact, especially when a person feels strongly about something and believes it is truly good or bad beyond any doubt. The line between facts and values is not always clear. The fact-value distinction distinguishes between what is the case (facts) and what people think ought to be the case (values) based on beliefs about what is good, beautiful, important, etc. Philosophers describe this difference as the is-ought distinction or, more commonly, the fact-value distinction. Values describe how people think things should be, not necessarily how they are. Here, your reasoning for a course of action-reading Invisible Man-is based on value judgments about the novel’s greatness and the importance of understanding racial injustice. For example, you might think you ought to read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man because it is considered a great American novel or because you believe that reading about anti-Black racism in the United States is important for forming a more just worldview. Values signify judgments about the way people ought to think, feel, or act based on what is good, worthwhile, or important. The ideals that guide your life decisions, the morals that shape how you treat others, and even the choices that define your personal aesthetic all express your values. Values are woven into how you live and relate to others. ![]() ![]()
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