Axiology, also called the theory of value, is the practical philosophical study that seeks to understand the nature of values and value judgments and how they arise in society.
Axiology is closely related to two other domains of philosophy: ethics and aesthetics. All three branches deal with value.
While ethics is concerned with goodness, trying to understand what is good and what it means to be good, aesthetics is concerned with beauty and harmony. With this, it seeks to understand beauty and what it means or how it is defined.
THE axiology is a necessary component of ethics and aesthetics. Because it is necessary to use concepts of value to define “goodness” or “beauty” and, therefore, it is necessary to understand what is valuable and why.
Understanding these values also helps us determine the reason for an action.
Ethics and aesthetics in axiology
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Ethics is a complement to aesthetics in the philosophical field of axiology.
Questions about what is good, bad, right and wrong concern ethics.
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of art, beauty and good taste, with the creation and enhancement of beauty.
It is scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensory-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of feeling and taste.
More broadly, scholars in the field define aesthetics as “critical reflection on art, culture and nature”.
Aesthetics is nothing more than the investigation of feelings, judgments, or patterns about the nature of beauty and related concepts, such as the tragic, the sublime, or movement.
Questions about what should be considered art, what is beautiful and related issues pertain to aesthetics.
More than just declaring what is valuable or not, those who study ethics and aesthetics in axiology try to come up with reasons why things are or are not.
Theories of ethics in axiology
There are two types of ethical theory within axiology, which address different reasons for the values of "right" and "wrong":
- Theory about theological ethics: this theory states that what makes an action right or wrong are the consequences of the action; simply a "right action" is one that has good consequences and a "wrong action" has bad consequences;
- Theory on deontological ethics: this theory maintains an opposition to a consequentialist theory that it is not the consequences, but the motivation that leads the agent to do it. An action motivated by any reason will be considered "right" regardless of whether its consequences are good or not. Thus, an action performed for the wrong reasons will be considered a wrong action, even though its consequences may be considered good.
See also the meanings:
- Axiological;
- ethics in philosophy;
- Philosophy;
- ethic and moral;
- Deontology.
