Value Pluralism and Capability Approach

GARCÍA VALVERDE, FACUNDO

Buenos Aires

Simposio; Los desafíos del liberalismo en un mundo no liberal; 2014

UNIVERSIDAD DE PALERMO - GRUPO DE FILOSOFIA POLITICA

I.                   Value PluralismValue Pluralism can be defined inopposition to Value Monism. According to this view, everything that is valuableis so because it implies a unique and encompassing value such as utility, happiness, etc. Onthe contrary, Value Pluralism holds that there are different values which arenot reducible to one and only one, and that moral life consists, in part, inoffering reasons for pursuing goods and activities standing for one value andnot for others. William Galston (2002, 30-1) stated five propositions toclarify value pluralism: a)                 It is an account of the actualstructure of the normative world and not a description of our moral perplexity.b)                It must not be confused withmoral relativismc)                 There is a multiplicity ofgenuine goods that are qualitatively heterogeneous.d)                These different values cannotbe fully rank-ordered. e)                 No single value is overridingin all cases as a reason for guiding action.Let me explain some of these propositions.