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DISTINGUISHING AND DEFINING VALUES

Theologies and philosophies throughout world history contended with the question of values. Each have their ways of identifying what is of value, why and for whom, each have developed their various sets of reasons for and against the varieties of human behaviour and aspiration. Any attempt to develop a single value system to account harmoniously for all the behavioural tenets of all the major religions and cultures would be vain and most probably counter-productive in practice in the global society. With this in mind, the following set of most general (abstract) values, and how they can tentatively be defined and ordered in relation to more specific and socially-situated values, is forwarded as follows:

Truth. The truth in any matter does not depend upon the will or wish of the individual. Evidence that truth is an inherent value in the human psyche is found in the fact that noone likes to be called a liar, not even most liars. Further, it is much harder to sustain a lie than to maintain the truth, because one lie leads to another until the complexity is unmanageable.

Care is a basic human value which again relates to concern and respect for others and the environment. It is often expressed by the word 'love' used in a broader sense than in common parlance. Love as care does not refer to an emotion or a state of mind so much as to a human faculty of identification with others, sympathy with all beings, creation and - in spiritual or religious beliefs - of Divinity. Being universal, love takes on different general forms in different relations; mother love, fatherly love, conjugal love of one's partner, loving friendship, etc. Patriotic love is for one's country, true brotherhood expresses love of mankind, care and respect for nature is love of creation and - for those who profess religious belief - devotion is love of the Creator.

Peace. Peacefulness in a person’s life, in society and in world terms is a product of all positive values working together sufficiently. Without truth, caring concern (or 'love') and justice, conflicts arise and peace is endangered or lost. As a universally-accepted positive value, peace refers to the experience of harmony, a balanced dynamic mental condition. Peacefulness is not to be confused with lack of activity or mere physical quiet.

Peace of mind is individual, but peace in society is the result of positive acts, which are not violent or destructive but tolerant and constructive.

Duty. Because human actions are physical events brought about at some stage through the medium of the body, this value is obviously closely related to human behaviour. No definitive and specific codes of behaviour can be prescribed for all times and places independently of environmental, social and other conditions. The human values themselves provide the general criterion for good behaviour, but because of the changing nature of life and society, they cannot be formulated as explicit norms, laws, rules or regulations.

Justice. The idea of justice is difficult to define satisfactorily and certainly cannot be set in concrete terms. It is based on fairness, where the equality of every individual before the law is fundamental. As such it is a social value as it aims to resolve and reduce conflict, guided by the principles of care and non-violence. So, justice is a major human value that embraces most aspects of social life.