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Questions of Value
Our lives are filled with everyday questions of fact and finance. Which investment brings the highest return? What school district is the house in? What will this candidate do if elected? But the really fundamental questions of our lives, says Professor Patrick Grim, are questions of neither fact nor finance. They are questions of value. They are the deep questions that apply to every aspect of our lives.
What is it that gives something genuine value? What things are really worth striving for? What is it that makes life worth living? Are there values that transcend cultural differences? Can we have ethical values without religion? If the universe operates in terms of deterministic laws, how can there be real choice? Is all value subjective? We can even ask if life is always worth living, or whether in some situations we would be better off dead.
Questions of Value is a course for anyone who has ever felt the tug of such questions or who wants to fine-tune their ability to see how deeper questions of ethics and values apply to the choices that make up their lives.
In presenting this philosophical examination of the range of decisions we all encounter as we live our lives, Professor Grim has placed the accent on individual choice—and has not shied away from controversy. The issues he presents for your examination cover evolution and ethics, about whether punishment is justified by retribution or by deterrence, and about the differing lessons drawn from life's worst horrors by both religious and antireligious traditions.
What values, for instance, are involved in thinking about life and death? What values are evident in a yearning for immortality? The lines of discussion raised throughout the course are regularly as provocative as these, and Professor Grim means them to be exactly that.
"The purpose of the lectures," he notes, "is, first and foremost, to open issues for thoughtful consideration ... [to] give an appreciation for the complex concepts that lie just beneath our everyday patterns of evaluation, and for some of the bold and insightful reflections that can illuminate them.
"The student can expect to finish the course with some new and interesting answers, and a command of important philosophical arguments and approaches, but also with some new and interesting questions about values."
A Challenge to Look Inward
"The course is designed not to close debate but to open it, not to end controversy but to facilitate reflective thought. It was Socrates who said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living.' This course offers the tools necessary for examining the values that guide our lives."
Best known for his logical arguments in the philosophy of religion and his groundbreaking work in philosophical computer modeling, Professor Grim has published across an extraordinary range of disciplines, from theoretical biology to artificial intelligence and computer science.
With these lectures he returns to his abiding interest in values. He uses his award-winning teaching skills to draw on almost every expression of human endeavor, bringing to life not only the fundamental questions of the course but the insights gleaned by the thinkers and artists who have grappled with those same questions for thousands of years.
The net he casts encompasses history, beginning with Herodotus and running through usury in feudalism's seignorial system right up through more contemporary subjects such as the cases of Patty Hearst and John W. Hinckley. Theoretical economics makes an appearance as well, as does game theory from John von Neumann to Robert Axelrod's work on cooperation. He delves into both theoretical biology and sociobiology through the work of E. O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins on altruism and evolution. There is even a foray into physics, as quantum mechanics is used to discuss determinism. His discussion of relativism brings in aspects of anthropology, and an exploration of the role of rules in our lives draws on psychology, examining the work of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg.
But it isn't only scientists whose work inevitably forces us to consider our values. The questions we ask and the answers we seek also figure prominently in the work of writers as varied as Charles Dickens, Peter S. Beagle, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ursula Le Guin, Mark Twain, Anne Rice, and Jorge Luis Borges. Even John Ford's classic western film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, is brought into the mix.
In exploring the course's varied sources, Professor Grim takes great care in ensuring that every concept addressed in a later lecture has been clearly introduced earlier. His presentation—even of the most nuanced material—is consistently clear, even to those with no background in philosophy.
A Range of Tools to Make even Complex Concepts Clear
Professor Grim has put together a course in which concepts are animated through both vivid examples drawn from real life and equally vivid "thought experiments"—...
What is it that gives something genuine value? What things are really worth striving for? What is it that makes life worth living? Are there values that transcend cultural differences? Can we have ethical values without religion? If the universe operates in terms of deterministic laws, how can there be real choice? Is all value subjective? We can even ask if life is always worth living, or whether in some situations we would be better off dead.
Questions of Value is a course for anyone who has ever felt the tug of such questions or who wants to fine-tune their ability to see how deeper questions of ethics and values apply to the choices that make up their lives.
In presenting this philosophical examination of the range of decisions we all encounter as we live our lives, Professor Grim has placed the accent on individual choice—and has not shied away from controversy. The issues he presents for your examination cover evolution and ethics, about whether punishment is justified by retribution or by deterrence, and about the differing lessons drawn from life's worst horrors by both religious and antireligious traditions.
What values, for instance, are involved in thinking about life and death? What values are evident in a yearning for immortality? The lines of discussion raised throughout the course are regularly as provocative as these, and Professor Grim means them to be exactly that.
"The purpose of the lectures," he notes, "is, first and foremost, to open issues for thoughtful consideration ... [to] give an appreciation for the complex concepts that lie just beneath our everyday patterns of evaluation, and for some of the bold and insightful reflections that can illuminate them.
"The student can expect to finish the course with some new and interesting answers, and a command of important philosophical arguments and approaches, but also with some new and interesting questions about values."
A Challenge to Look Inward
"The course is designed not to close debate but to open it, not to end controversy but to facilitate reflective thought. It was Socrates who said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living.' This course offers the tools necessary for examining the values that guide our lives."
Best known for his logical arguments in the philosophy of religion and his groundbreaking work in philosophical computer modeling, Professor Grim has published across an extraordinary range of disciplines, from theoretical biology to artificial intelligence and computer science.
With these lectures he returns to his abiding interest in values. He uses his award-winning teaching skills to draw on almost every expression of human endeavor, bringing to life not only the fundamental questions of the course but the insights gleaned by the thinkers and artists who have grappled with those same questions for thousands of years.
The net he casts encompasses history, beginning with Herodotus and running through usury in feudalism's seignorial system right up through more contemporary subjects such as the cases of Patty Hearst and John W. Hinckley. Theoretical economics makes an appearance as well, as does game theory from John von Neumann to Robert Axelrod's work on cooperation. He delves into both theoretical biology and sociobiology through the work of E. O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins on altruism and evolution. There is even a foray into physics, as quantum mechanics is used to discuss determinism. His discussion of relativism brings in aspects of anthropology, and an exploration of the role of rules in our lives draws on psychology, examining the work of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg.
But it isn't only scientists whose work inevitably forces us to consider our values. The questions we ask and the answers we seek also figure prominently in the work of writers as varied as Charles Dickens, Peter S. Beagle, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ursula Le Guin, Mark Twain, Anne Rice, and Jorge Luis Borges. Even John Ford's classic western film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, is brought into the mix.
In exploring the course's varied sources, Professor Grim takes great care in ensuring that every concept addressed in a later lecture has been clearly introduced earlier. His presentation—even of the most nuanced material—is consistently clear, even to those with no background in philosophy.
A Range of Tools to Make even Complex Concepts Clear
Professor Grim has put together a course in which concepts are animated through both vivid examples drawn from real life and equally vivid "thought experiments"—...
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2005
5 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Grim
72 books36 followersDr. Patrick Grim is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
He graduated with highest honors in anthropology and philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was named a Fulbright Fellow to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from which he earned his B.Phil. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University.
Professor Grim is the recipient of several honors and awards. In addition to being named SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Grim has been awarded the President and Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and was elected to the Academy of Teachers and Scholars. The Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan in 2006, Professor Grim has also held visiting fellowships at the Center for Complex Systems at Michigan and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Professor Grim, author of The Incomplete Universe: Totality, Knowledge, and Truth; coauthor of The Philosophical Computer: Exploratory Essays in Philosophical Computer Modeling; and editor of the forthcoming Mind and Consciousness: 5 Questions, is widely published in scholarly journals. He is the founder and coeditor of 25 volumes of The Philosopher’s Annual, an anthology of the best articles published in philosophy each year.
He graduated with highest honors in anthropology and philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was named a Fulbright Fellow to the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, from which he earned his B.Phil. He earned his Ph.D. from Boston University.
Professor Grim is the recipient of several honors and awards. In addition to being named SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Grim has been awarded the President and Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and was elected to the Academy of Teachers and Scholars. The Weinberg Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan in 2006, Professor Grim has also held visiting fellowships at the Center for Complex Systems at Michigan and at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Professor Grim, author of The Incomplete Universe: Totality, Knowledge, and Truth; coauthor of The Philosophical Computer: Exploratory Essays in Philosophical Computer Modeling; and editor of the forthcoming Mind and Consciousness: 5 Questions, is widely published in scholarly journals. He is the founder and coeditor of 25 volumes of The Philosopher’s Annual, an anthology of the best articles published in philosophy each year.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 6, 2018
The first 11 chapters are frustratingly simplistic. The 12th lecture on the evolutionary foundations of ethics is not just simplistic, but aggressively stupid
November 24, 2014
First, I must say that I will listen to this again. The amount of material covered certainly warrants that additional time.
I think that Prof Grim did an outstanding job with covering a vast field in the amount of time. He gave multiple, often contradictory views of most topics - but the point was not to tell someone what to thing, but to give topics to thing about and show some of the thought processes that can be applied to these questions. He said up front that he did not expect people to agree with what he said on all topics - such agreement would be disappointing; well he was certainly right on that.
As to another's comment about pedantic use of literature... well, literature represents and questions values. In fact, if one purpose of art is to assess ourselves and our societies, then bringing this forward is important. I believe that the references were far from snobbish, but were examples of where to look for peoples thoughts on topics at different points in time.
I think that Prof Grim did an outstanding job with covering a vast field in the amount of time. He gave multiple, often contradictory views of most topics - but the point was not to tell someone what to thing, but to give topics to thing about and show some of the thought processes that can be applied to these questions. He said up front that he did not expect people to agree with what he said on all topics - such agreement would be disappointing; well he was certainly right on that.
As to another's comment about pedantic use of literature... well, literature represents and questions values. In fact, if one purpose of art is to assess ourselves and our societies, then bringing this forward is important. I believe that the references were far from snobbish, but were examples of where to look for peoples thoughts on topics at different points in time.
January 13, 2017
Philosophy usually does not answer questions. Instead, it provides many possible so-called solutions and consequences, and let the individuals decide; it also brings up the thoughts of previous philosophers to make their points in each topic, and these are what this course is about.
I usually have a habit of forgetting new concepts that I learn. Unless I face them at least a few times, my understanding would drop significantly after I finished learning.
This course brings me to what I have come across before, showing me once again the unfamiliar concepts of philosophy and the questions of value, which I am not good at. It was an enjoyable experience throughout this course, and I hope it could add a bit more water to my limited pool of knowledge.
I usually have a habit of forgetting new concepts that I learn. Unless I face them at least a few times, my understanding would drop significantly after I finished learning.
This course brings me to what I have come across before, showing me once again the unfamiliar concepts of philosophy and the questions of value, which I am not good at. It was an enjoyable experience throughout this course, and I hope it could add a bit more water to my limited pool of knowledge.
June 29, 2013
Not very deep, and a little pedantic
I think philosophers should have a deep understanding of mathematics, this guy didn't seem so.
Pisses me off when people instead of passionate independent quest for "the truth" or at least an alternate reality, sell off their literary historical philosophical training as a sex appeal: "Plato says this, Kant says that"
Like philosophy is just another one of hierarchical games we play in our social life. (I recently began going to work and it all seems to me as I'm playing World of Warcraft or something :D)
I think philosophers should have a deep understanding of mathematics, this guy didn't seem so.
Pisses me off when people instead of passionate independent quest for "the truth" or at least an alternate reality, sell off their literary historical philosophical training as a sex appeal: "Plato says this, Kant says that"
Like philosophy is just another one of hierarchical games we play in our social life. (I recently began going to work and it all seems to me as I'm playing World of Warcraft or something :D)
March 5, 2022
[I wrote this review on March 5, 2014, and posted it to Goodreads on March 5, 2022.]
In these 24 half-hour lectures, forming a part of the Great Courses Series in Philosophy and Intellectual History, Professor Grim tackles some basic questions of our lives: “What is worth striving for, and what makes life worth living? Are there values that transcend cultural differences? Is ethics possible without religion? If the universe is deterministic, can there be genuine choice? Is all value subjective? Is anyone ever better off dead?” The course is well-prepared and intellectually stimulating, with an orderly and engaging presentation. In what follows, I list the lecture titles, with a few notes about each, as a way of summarizing the contents of this highly recommended course.
1. Questions of Value: Course structure, objectives, the basic nature of values and challenges to them.
2. Facts & Values: Answers to questions of fact can be verified; the same isn’t true of questions of value.
3. Lives to Envy, Lives to Admire: What makes a life a good life? What makes it an enjoyable life?
4. Foundations of Ethics—Theories of the Good: Ethical evaluation is more than simple “right” or “wrong.”
5. Foundations of Ethics—Theories of the Right: What makes something ethically right?
6. Thoughts on Religion & Values: You can, and should, talk about values independently of religion.
7. Life’s Priorities: If you have something precious that can’t be held, like your life, you must spend it well.
8. Cash Value of a Life: Ford’s decision not to fix the Pinto’s gas-tank problem entailed cost-benefit analysis.
9. How Do We Know Right from Wrong? We derive our knowledge from premises such as human rights.
10. Cultures & Values—Questions of Relativism: Pure relativism may lead to dangerous ethical mistakes.
11. Cultures & Values—Hopi, Navajo, Ik: Seemingly opposite Ethical beliefs may be superficially different.
12. Evolution, Ethics, & Game Theory: Attempts to find an underlying structure for our intuitions.
13. The Objective Side of Value: Is a brain kept alive in a vat and fed positive sensory signals truly happy?
14. Better off Dead: We agree that lives have different worths, but can the worth of a life be negative?
15. A Picture of Justice: Societal ethics and how it differs from individual ethics.
16. Life’s Horrors: Natural and unnatural evils and how they affect our outlook on life.
17. A Genealogy of My Morals: Nietzsche’s claims on linguistic roots of moral terms have been discredited.
18. Theories of Punishment: Arguments for/against punishment, particularly morality of the death penalty.
19. Choice & Chance: The value of good will is independent of consequences, which may depend on chance.
20. Free Will & Determinism: A universe ruled entirely by causality and natural laws does not allow free will.
21. Images of Immortality: Immortality can be viewed as the ultimate reward or the ultimate punishment.
22. Ethical Knowledge, Rationality, & Rules: Ethics is much more than a list of dos and don’ts.
23. Moralities in Conflict & in Change: Is a resolution ever possible between conflicting moral worldviews?
24. Summing Up: Summarizing the basic notions of values and the set of challenges to them.
In these 24 half-hour lectures, forming a part of the Great Courses Series in Philosophy and Intellectual History, Professor Grim tackles some basic questions of our lives: “What is worth striving for, and what makes life worth living? Are there values that transcend cultural differences? Is ethics possible without religion? If the universe is deterministic, can there be genuine choice? Is all value subjective? Is anyone ever better off dead?” The course is well-prepared and intellectually stimulating, with an orderly and engaging presentation. In what follows, I list the lecture titles, with a few notes about each, as a way of summarizing the contents of this highly recommended course.
1. Questions of Value: Course structure, objectives, the basic nature of values and challenges to them.
2. Facts & Values: Answers to questions of fact can be verified; the same isn’t true of questions of value.
3. Lives to Envy, Lives to Admire: What makes a life a good life? What makes it an enjoyable life?
4. Foundations of Ethics—Theories of the Good: Ethical evaluation is more than simple “right” or “wrong.”
5. Foundations of Ethics—Theories of the Right: What makes something ethically right?
6. Thoughts on Religion & Values: You can, and should, talk about values independently of religion.
7. Life’s Priorities: If you have something precious that can’t be held, like your life, you must spend it well.
8. Cash Value of a Life: Ford’s decision not to fix the Pinto’s gas-tank problem entailed cost-benefit analysis.
9. How Do We Know Right from Wrong? We derive our knowledge from premises such as human rights.
10. Cultures & Values—Questions of Relativism: Pure relativism may lead to dangerous ethical mistakes.
11. Cultures & Values—Hopi, Navajo, Ik: Seemingly opposite Ethical beliefs may be superficially different.
12. Evolution, Ethics, & Game Theory: Attempts to find an underlying structure for our intuitions.
13. The Objective Side of Value: Is a brain kept alive in a vat and fed positive sensory signals truly happy?
14. Better off Dead: We agree that lives have different worths, but can the worth of a life be negative?
15. A Picture of Justice: Societal ethics and how it differs from individual ethics.
16. Life’s Horrors: Natural and unnatural evils and how they affect our outlook on life.
17. A Genealogy of My Morals: Nietzsche’s claims on linguistic roots of moral terms have been discredited.
18. Theories of Punishment: Arguments for/against punishment, particularly morality of the death penalty.
19. Choice & Chance: The value of good will is independent of consequences, which may depend on chance.
20. Free Will & Determinism: A universe ruled entirely by causality and natural laws does not allow free will.
21. Images of Immortality: Immortality can be viewed as the ultimate reward or the ultimate punishment.
22. Ethical Knowledge, Rationality, & Rules: Ethics is much more than a list of dos and don’ts.
23. Moralities in Conflict & in Change: Is a resolution ever possible between conflicting moral worldviews?
24. Summing Up: Summarizing the basic notions of values and the set of challenges to them.
September 29, 2021
Grim does a heroic job leading the students through the murky sludge of men's philosophy. For a person who believes in absolute truth, it is at best a very helpful aide in understanding how to go through the procedural logic of men. I found the whole thing both fascinating and a colossal gerbil wheel of a waste of time - in that I believe philosophy is useful only as an abstract exercise and to understand people who subscribe to atheism, agnosticism, etc. I really liked Grim's approach, which is that he presents several different points of view, sometimes admitting those to he subscribes, sometimes just lecturing. He is very clear and concise, so there is minimal confusion - none, if you pay close attention. It really is fascinating to me the black hole mind games most of the philosophies cause. It's also simultaneously tragic, because I couldn't stop thinking about how many people whose whole lives are founded on various of these philosophical foundations. It's a dream of worldly premise...which is how I feel about most philosophy, in general. The mental exercise is exhilarating, though, and it does help to understand other people's frame of reference, which I greatly appreciated. Content value - 3*. Delivery and methodology of teaching - 4*
August 24, 2018
Patrick Grim is one of my favorite philosophical lecturers, and he doesn't disappoint in this series. Once again, Teaching Company courses are a great overview and refresher on topics, and as I work on deeper and deeper views of values, this was a great journey through the terrain.
There are a few places I disagree with Grim; particularly on his ideas around determinism and relativism. He claims that "determined" doesn't mean "coerced" and I don't accept his reasoning here. On relativism, I think he presented his counters to relativism more strongly than I think they merit.
Still, highly recommended, and if I could spend a week in discussion with Grim I'd be very happy to have such an interlocutor.
There are a few places I disagree with Grim; particularly on his ideas around determinism and relativism. He claims that "determined" doesn't mean "coerced" and I don't accept his reasoning here. On relativism, I think he presented his counters to relativism more strongly than I think they merit.
Still, highly recommended, and if I could spend a week in discussion with Grim I'd be very happy to have such an interlocutor.
March 22, 2019
Useful, clear, interesting and enlightening, this course is both thought-provoking, accessible and on a philosophical high level. I am impressed and challenged.
There is some critique of some kinds of religion here, but is fair and unprejudiced, so even for me, who keep my faith, the perspectives on this are useful.
The course’s main perspective is asking fundamental questions about how we live, and answering them philosophically. This is fascinating and teaches both important content and brilliant method, drawing on a variety of sources. Complicated questions are presented clearly, without losing depth or nuance.
In fact, this is a rare course that may actually change the way you think about some aspects of life, in an interesting way that might benefit both yourself and others.
There is some critique of some kinds of religion here, but is fair and unprejudiced, so even for me, who keep my faith, the perspectives on this are useful.
The course’s main perspective is asking fundamental questions about how we live, and answering them philosophically. This is fascinating and teaches both important content and brilliant method, drawing on a variety of sources. Complicated questions are presented clearly, without losing depth or nuance.
In fact, this is a rare course that may actually change the way you think about some aspects of life, in an interesting way that might benefit both yourself and others.
January 3, 2025
I thought this was going to be a book on philosophy and ethics. Instead the author uses the book to build up a case against the existence of God simply because there is pain in the world. C. S. Lewis's book The Problem of Pain answers that. When I realized this about the book, I stopped reading. With so many other great books on philosophy and ethics, I wouldn't waste your time reading this one. May I recommend the book The Fundamentals of Ethics by Russ Shafer-Landau.
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January 28, 2023Ethics, philosophy, morals, religion, justice. Really good discussions about all of that stuff. Definitely recommend it.
October 28, 2024
I disagreed with him a LOT but he was clear so it was easy for me to tell.
I wouldn't have a problem with disagreeing with him except it meant he dismissed ideas that interested me and went off in directions that did not.
If you are skeptical of the whole concept of moral facts, you'll hear what seems like a lot of errors and nonsense.
I wouldn't have a problem with disagreeing with him except it meant he dismissed ideas that interested me and went off in directions that did not.
If you are skeptical of the whole concept of moral facts, you'll hear what seems like a lot of errors and nonsense.
August 17, 2011
Overall I am very satisfied with the course! I feel that I was able to really deepen my curiosity and interest about questions of value, and I feel I gained a more sophisticated understanding and appreciation of philosophy in general. I also enjoyed the overview of many different important and influential figures and their contribution to philosophy. I appreciated the exercise in better figuring out my own values. As well, I feel that now I have a much better understanding and appreciation of ethics.
November 21, 2012
This is one of my all time Teaching Company lectures. If you want to learn a lot of interesting stuff about philosophy quickly, this is it. It is entertaining, thought provoking and everything is explained with concrete and interesting examples.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews