Are happiness and well-being the only things that people value?

June 5, 2024

The most common kind of critiques I get of my theory of human intrinsic values are: 1) "But I only care about well-being (in the sense of happiness, pleasure, or lack of suffering) - that's my ONLY intrinsic value." 2) "People may THINK they value other things, but everything that matters bottoms out in well-being." Here's my response: First of all, I want to say that I really appreciate thoughtful criticism of my work. It helps me see the truth more clearly and improve my ideas...

Valuism and X: how Valuism sheds light on other domains – Part 5 of the sequence on Valuism

July 19, 2023

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the fifth and final part in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, third, and fourth parts. In previous posts, I've described Valuism - my life philosophy. I've also discussed how it could serve as a life philosophy for others. In this post, I discuss how a Valuist lens can help shed light on various fields and areas of inquiry. Valuism and ...

What would a robot value? An analogy for human values – part 4 of the Valuism sequence

May 7, 2023

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace This post is part of a sequence about Valuism - my life philosophy. This post is the most technical of the sequence. Here are the first, second, third, and fifth parts of the sequence. Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the fourth of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, third, and fifth parts (though the last link won’t work until that essay is released). I...

Should Effective Altruists be Valuists instead of utilitarians? – part 3 in the Valuism sequence

March 10, 2023

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 This is the third of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the first, second, fourth, and fifth parts (though the links won’t work until those other essays are released). Sometimes, people take an important value - maybe their most important value - and decide to prioritize it above all other things. They neglect or ignore their other values in the process. In ...

Doing what you value as a life philosophy – an introduction to Valuism – part 1 in the Valuism sequence – what are intrinsic values and why do they matter?

February 14, 2023

By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace This is the first of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the second, third, fourth, and fifth parts. Featured image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2 Many of us struggle at times to know what to do. We are surrounded by conflicting advice about how to live our lives - from our parents, peers, and communities, from ancient philosophers, and from modern gurus and intellectuals. Faced with these con...

What Are All the Things That Humans Need?

July 28, 2021

Below is my attempt to list all human needs ranked according to their typical importance (from most important to least). Thanks for the idea, Maslow! I'm defining a "need" here as something non-replaceable (i.e., you can't just substitute it for something else), which, if substantially unsatisfied, would inhibit well-being for the vast majority of people. You might say that you "need an iced tea" on a hot day, but it could be easily replaceable with lemonade or iced coffee, s...

Is altruism rational?

December 27, 2020

When people learn just a little about game theory, decision theory, economics, or even evolutionary theory, they sometimes come away thinking that altruism is somehow “irrational” or that rational agents are selfish. Here are a number of reasons why altruism is often rational: I. People can value altruism for its own sake: 1. Intrinsic values: as a psychological fact, most humans intrinsically value at least some things as ends (not merely as means to other ends) that are not about...