Iain McGilchrist and Alex Gomez-Marin explores Iain’s latest book The Matter with Things in a series of dialogues. In Episode 26: Value, Alex asks the following question, which I would have liked to ask Iain myself. (The question and answer are edited for brevity and clarity. My emphasis in italics.)
27:15 >>Alex Gomex-Marin: You write that value is calibrated cognitively, but that it is first perceived pre-cognitively. I am very intrigued about this perception of value in an immediate way. How does it happen?
28:14 >>Iain McGilchrist: It is not the outcome of a process of cognition. It is an immediate impact that the thing has, almost like falling in love. You see it and immediately it speaks to you. … Goodness comes from the disposition that one holds towards the world. … It takes into account many strands of understanding and knowledge that can’t necessarily be put into language – and if you tried to, we would miss many of them. … In fact, all of this about the reception of value comes from Max Sheler. … He and I are trying to get away from the idea that these things are matters of calculation, they are matters of experience.
Related posts:
Iain McGilchrist on Value & Purpose
Iain McGilcrist on Life & Value
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