Organizing reflection 31

This is a post in my series on organizing ”between and beyond.” Other posts are here. The purpose of this post is to reflect on subjects occupying my mind. I make no claim to fully believe what I write. Neither do I pretend that others have not already thought or written about the same subject. More often than not, I take up, combine, and add to already existing thoughts and ideas.

What is on my mind?
In today’s reflection, I see a connection between Andreas Weber‘s emphasis on intrinsic (felt) values in The Biology of Wonder and Robert Hartman‘s seminal work on valuation of value in The Structure of Value. Robert Hartman’s work and insights can actually be used to further clarify, support, and strengthen Andreas Weber’s arguments.

Andreas Weber asks:

But why is nature so important?¹

The short answer is that:

… the values at stake … are the values of life.²

And, Andreas is right! All living beings:

… possess an intrinsic value, but it is precisely this value that has been denied … by science as well as by economics.³

What Robert Hartman does in his formal axiology is to put the idea of intrinsic value on solid intellectual ground.⁴ Still, I fully agree with Andreas Weber that, regardless of intellectual arguments, it’s ultimately about love:

We should protect other beings because we love them. … we are a part of them, and … they are part of us.⁵

Generative organizing, is ultimately a question of values. The most valuable value is intrinsic value.⁶ Disvalue posing as value is non-generative—it’s a perversion of value. It is worse than straightforward disvaluation.⁷

Notes:
¹ Andreas Weber, The Biology of Wonder: Aliveness, Feeling and the Metamorphosis of Science (New Society Publishers, 2016), p. 8.
² Ibid., p. 12.
³ Ibid..
⁴ Ibid..
⁵ Ibid., p. 11.
⁶ Robert S. Hartman, The Structure of Value: Foundations of Scientific Axiology (Wopf & Stock, 2011, first published 1967), p. 268.
⁷ Ibid., pp. 276.

Related posts:
Organizing in between and beyond posts