Value judgment

A value judgment is a judgmentof the rightnessor wrongnessof something based on a particular set of valuesor on a particular value system.

The term is usually employed, often in a disparaging sense, to imply that a statement is not objectively true, but is 'merely' a value judgment, distinguishing between an objectivestatement of fact or a conclusion reached logicallythrough rational analysis, and a statement or conclusion reached owing to the specific values or value system held by the one asserting it. Since it can be argued that true objectivity is impossible, that even the most rigorous rational analysis is founded on the set of values accepted in the course of analysis. it is consequently argued (by some) that all such statements and conclusions are, of necessity, value judgments.

This might be compared to axiomsin mathematicsand geometry—for instance, Euclidean geometryis founded upon a different set of axioms than various forms of non-Euclidean geometry, and thus postulatesproven to be true in Euclidean geometry may not be true in other forms of geometry (or vice versa). Postulates that are true in one geometry but false in another could be considered analogous to value judgments that declare something to be right given one value system but wrong within the confines of another.

Gilles Deleuzeopposed immanent evaluationto such transcendentjudgment.

See also

• Immanent evaluation

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value+judgment Wikipedia article Value judgment.