Topics Value

Question I always wanted to know what influences the tastes we have? Is it a rational justification or a causal consequence? I know that's two questions but to put it this way: in the end why do I prefer blue shirts more than yellow ones, why do I prefer Salinger more then Stephen King? I can imagine that my tastes are determined by my emotions, my culture, my education or my genetics but that doesn't seem to answer anything since I have the profond impression that I choose, what I like and what I don't, freely and rationaly. More generaly, I believe that the question "What influences the moral values we have?" is an equivalent question.

Accepted:
January 27, 2006

Comments

Huge question--too huge for me to try to answer fully. But I will say this: I seriously doubt that your preference for blue shorts over yellow ones is free and rational. It may be that it is rational to buy shirts you find more attractive, but I doubt that your attraction to blue over yellow is rationally driven (as if, by thorough observation, you notice that people are more inclined to react with hostility if talking to someone in a yellow shirt).

Moreover, philosophers called "compatibilists" on the free will issue will claim both that your choices have causes that can entirely explain them, but that their having such causes does not determine them in a sense that leaves you unfree. There's a large literature on this, but you can start out by looking up "compatibilism" in one of the encyclopedias of philosophy linked to this site.

Finally, I think one's choices of moral values is different in kind from choices of entertainments, choices of shirt colors, and many other choices one makes. The complexities of moral choice, and the psychology of moral growth and education, are very special (and not entirely well understood). But plainly relevant influences include one's culture, class, level of education (including especially philosophical education), and life experiences. For thoughtful people, individual reason and deliberation obviously play large roles, as well.