Boudon R. The Origin of Values: Sociology and Philosophy of Beliefs

London: Routledge, 2013. — 239 p. — ISBN10: 1412849837; ISBN13: 978-1412849838Values have always been a central topic in both philosophy and the social sciences. Statements about what is good or bad, fair or unfair, legitimate or illegitimate, express clear beliefs about human existence. The fact that values differ from culture to culture and century to century opens many questions. In The Origin of Values, Raymond Boudon offers empirical, data-based analysis of existing theories about values, while developing his own perspective as to why people accept or reject value statements. Boudon classifies the main theories of value, including those based on firm belief, social or biological factors, and rational or utilitarian attitudes. He discusses the popular and widely influential Rational Choice Model and critiques the postmodernist approach. Boudon investigates why relativism has become so powerful and contrasts it with the naturalism represented by the work of James Q. Wilson on moral sensibility. He follows with a constructive attempt to develop a new theory, beginning with Weber's idea of non-instrumental rationality as the basis for a more complex idea of rationality. Applying Boudon's own and existing theories of value to political issues and social ideas―the end of apartheid, the death penalty, multiculturalism, communitarianism―The Origin of Values is a significant work. Boudon fulfills a major task of social science: explanation of collective belief. His book will be of interest to sociologists, philosophers, psychologists, and political scientists.Introduction: Explaining Values and ValuationExplaining Values and Valuation: A Question That Has Inspired Many TheoriesThe Diversity and Empirical Inefficiency of Value Theories
Miinchhausen's Trilemma
Miinchhausen's Trilemma and Scientific Knowledge
Miinchhausen's Trilemma and the Explanation of Norms and Values
"Fideist" Theories
Skeptical Theories
Rational Theories
Normative and Positive Beliefs
The Trilemma and Moral LifeRational Theories: Limits of the "Rational Choice Model"The Attractiveness of Rational Choice Theory (RCT)
Whether RCT Is General
Alternative Way
Two Examples from Tocqueville
"Cognitive Rationality"
A Special Case of Utmost Relevance
RCT: A Particular Case of a More General ModelRelativistic vs. Naturalistic Theories: Their Interest and LimitsThat Value Relativism Is Widespread
Do We Need to Accept These Views as Sociologists and as People?
The Naturalistic Reaction
The Reasons for Moral Convictions
Communitarianism RevisitedA Seminal and Difficult Notion: "Axiological Rationality"Weber Often Ill-Understood
The Methodological Principles of Weber's Sociology
Why These Principles?
Moral Feelings
"Gesinnungsethik" and "Verantwortungsethik"
Back to Kant?Generalizing the "Rational Choice Model7' into a Cognitivist ModelExplaining Collective Beliefs: The "Cognitivist" Model
Type 2 Beliefs: Examples from Cognitive Psychology
Type 3 Beliefs: Examples from the Sociology of Knowledge
Type 3 Beliefs: Examples from the Sociology of Norms and Values
The Need for a Non-Utilitarian Notion of RationalityThe Cognitivist Model Applied to the Analysis of the Feelings of JusticePhilosophy and Sociology on Axiological Feelings
A Cognitivist Theory of Axiological Feelings
Smith's Example
Lessons from Smith's Example
Application of the Model to Two Examples
Checking the Importance of Contextual Effects
Which Criteria of Fairness, Legitimacy, Etc.?
The Universal and Contextual Dimensions of Axiological Feelings and Justice Feelings in Particular
Contextual Variations of Tolerance to Inequalities
Beyond Kantian, Utilitarian, and Contractualist TheoriesThe Cognitivist Model Applied to the Analysis of Public OpinionA Free Interpretation of the Metaphor of the "Impartial Spectator"
Effects of Social Affiliations: Special Interests, Group Interests, and Role Interests
Effects of Community Affiliations
Effects of Position
Organizations and People
Cognitive Effects
Axiological Effects
Scheler Effects
Combined Effects
Tocqueville-Kuran Effects
The Influence of the Impartial Spectator
Public Opinion and the Rationalization of Social Life