Value

Abstract

There are some differences in the way we use the terms ‘value’ and ‘good’. The most obvious difference is that ‘value’ is used exclusively as a noun, for which the corresponding adjective is ‘valuable’; while ‘good’ is used primarily as an adjective. However ‘valuable’ does not mean quite the same thing as ‘good’. ‘Valuable’ suggests ‘good to possess’, or ‘good to use’; while ‘good’ cannot similarly be analyzed in terms of ‘valuable’. We would call some things ‘valuable’ — diamonds, water, popularity — which we should hesitate to call ‘good’. And we would call some things ‘good’ — an act of courage, a right choice, or an experience of pleasure — which we should hesitate to call ‘valuable’. There are other things which we would speak of in both ways, as both valuable and good — for example, friendship, truth, health. But these are things which are good to possess. We do not speak of a ‘valuable pleasure’ or a ‘valuable act of courage’, for we cannot strictly possess these but can only experience the pleasure and perform the act of courage. We would speak of a ‘good pleasure’ and a ‘good act of courage’, and we would speak of a ‘valuable habit of courage’ or a ‘valuable life’ for we could have or possess these latter.