New Knowledge In Human Values

This book presents Robert S. Hartman’s formal theory of value and critically examines many other twentieth century value theorists in its light, including A.J. Ayer, Kurt Baier, Brand Blanshard, Paul Edwards, Albert Einstein, William K. Frankena, R.M. Hare, Nicolai Hartmann, Martin Heidegger, G.E. Moore, P.H. Nowell-Smith, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Charles Stevenson, Paul W. Taylor, Stephen E. Toulmin, and J.O. Urmson. Open Access funding for this volume has been provided by the Robert S. Hartman Institute.

Man has been pondering for centuries over the basis of his own ethical and aesthetic values. Until recent times, such issues were primarily fed by the thinking of philosophers, moralists and theologists, or by the findings of historians or sociologists relating to universality or variations in these values within various populations. Science has avoided this field of investigation within the confines of philosophy. Beyond the temptation to stay away from the field of knowledge science may also have felt itself unconcerned by the study of human values for a simple heuristic reason, namely the lack of tools allowing objective study. For the same reason, researchers tended to avoid the study of feelings or consciousness until, over the past two decades, this became a focus of interest for many neuroscientists. It is apparent that many questions linked to research in the field of neuroscience are now arising. The hope is that this book will help to formulate them more clearly rather than skirting them. The authors do not wish to launch a new moral philosophy, but simply to gather objective knowledge for reflection.

It is widely recognized that a person's values will profoundly affect what that person attends to, thinks about, and remembers. Yet, despite this, psychologists have only begun to study and think about the deep connections between values and knowledge. This volume explores this important area in psychology by offering an overview of what is known about the developmental role of valuation in the acquisition of knowledge, and also by examining a range of new ideas for understanding the intricate connection between evaluation and thinking. More specifically, the text: provides a historical overview of philosophical and psychological theories relating the values and knowledge; reviews the importance of values for infants and their caretakers in the origins of both cognition and social relations; offers a provocative view of how the differences among families in their values may have profound affects on psychological development; explicates the development of a personal sphere within which one strives to shape one's own values; emphasizes the heterogeneity of valuation inherent in every culture and how conflicts of values are likely to be common and important to human development; presents eye-opening research on social-cognitive limitations of average people in respecting the points of view of others; and summarizes and critiques Piaget's theory of the role of values in development. For practitioners in the fields of developmental and social psychology, and education, this volume will introduce a number of important and current issues, from multiculturality and gender to the differential roles of temperament and upbringing in development. The emphasis is placed squarely on developing individuals and how they shape themselves in a world that is structured by values as well as by facts.

Human Values and Professional Ethics fulfils this noble intention by providing thought-provoking inputs. The reader will be compelled to delve deeper into his own consciousness and explore values that will benefit him and the society. It will also help the reader to develop a holistic perspective towards life. The book explains the essential complementarities between ‘values’ and skills to ensure sustained happiness prosperity. The most delicate issues pertaining to the subject have been discussed in simple language with adequate scientific, logical and practical explanations. Although this book is specially designed for the engineering students of GBTU, the value inputs contained herein, will be equally to all educational disciplines.