Good Without Qualification

The End of Happiness is one of the four principle theories of value that I am familiar with. The other three theories of value are Aesthetic, utilitarian, and intuitionistic values. The theory of value that I am referring to is the intuitionistic or commitment theory. According to the intuitionistic principle, the ends of human action are unconditionally good and it does not matter what the means are; it only matters what the ends are, and if these ends are not met, then some consequences will ensue.

According to the intuitionists, if an action has a desired end, then the person should always commit himself to it regardless of the means. The intuitionists believe that there is a standard of value, and this standard has two distinctions: a moral obligation and a norm, which are the standard of happiness and the standard of obedience, which is the relation between the norm of obligation and the means used to attain this end. According to the intuitionists, there is no such thing as the ends of action, and it is the standard of the ends that determines whether or not an action is right or wrong. The intuitionist also believes that the only thing that is important is how humans view these ends and how they relate to the will of man.

According to the ethic of value that I am referring to, a good without qualification is a fact that is worth pursuing. According to the ethic of value, there is a standard of value, and this standard is worth pursuing, regardless of the means used to attain it. For example, the fact that killing another human being is morally wrong is an evil fact, and this fact is worth pursuing. The fact that killing another human being is an evil fact does not make it right. A fact may be right, yet the will to act in accordance with that fact is important; otherwise, the fact that kills another human being would be an evil fact, and if the means to the end are worse than the ends themselves, then the actions taken to attain the ends are evil as well.