Protected Values- Critical Review

Protected Values- Critical Review

In their article “Protected Values,” Jonathan Baron and Mark Spranca define protected values as those values that do not make tradeoffs or compromise with other values, precisely economic values. Baron and Spranca propose that protected values arise from deontological rules concerning action. The two also suggest that protected values not only display tradeoff resistance, but they also tend to show moral obligation, agent relativity, and quantity insensitivity. People who hold protected values tend to get angry at the thought of compromising and tend to deny the need for tradeoffs through fantasy or wishful thinking. Protected values are often impossible to satisfy and they may cause difficulties for the government or other institutions that try to meet and satisfy the values of a significant number of people. Although protected rights cause trouble for government efforts to implement specific programs, some practices and values should be inviolable and should not be compromised by tradeoffs with other values

Summary

Baron and Spranca define protected values as those values that resist tradeoffs with others, especially economic values. People who hold protected values believe that human life, human rights, and natural resources are more critical compared to other economic values. According to Baron and Spranca, protected values tend to display tradeoff resistance, quantity insensitivity, moral obligation, and agent relativity.

Protected values are almost impossible for individuals to satisfy, and the government faces difficulties when it tries to satisfy the values of many individuals. If every individual holds values that can be traded off, it is possible to weigh the values and reach a practical decision that ensures that total value satisfaction is maximized. The government and other institutions try to utilize this type of optimization when they evaluate the value of human rights to determine whether safety programs, environmental regulation, or medical treatments are cost-effective.

Protected values make it difficult for these efforts by institutions and governments because they suggest that one value is infinitely more vital than other values. Problems may also arise when protected values conflict. For instance, a social decision not to cut down any trees for uses such as making medicine or paper because a few people hold infinite values for them seems to put unnecessary and excessive weight to such values. Protected values create problems for functional analysis because they violate apparent normative principles of decision making and the dominance principle.

Baron and Spranca proposed that protected values originate from rules that restrict specific actions rather than value for the potential results of such activities. Therefore, if people could attempt to satisfy the values they hold rather than the values they show in their character, then they definitely do what is best for the people. Some social theorists and philosophers support the resistance to make tradeoffs by arguing that some practices should be not be compromised by tradeoffs with anything else.

Baron and Spranca also propose that protected values express absolute deontological rules that apply to specific behavior “whatever the consequences.” Deontological rules typically restrict harmful actions instead of harmful omissions under certain limited conditions. Deontological rules are agent-relative rather than agent-neutral, and they specify that specific actions should be taken or not taken as a function of the action’s description. Experiments carried out by Baron and Spranca revealed that subjects displayed denial, quantity insensitivity, moral obligation, and agent relativity, which are the generally hypothesized characteristics of protected values (Baron, & Spranca, 1997). Protected values originate from a desire for self-enhancement or deliberate adoption of rigid, inviolable prescriptive values and rules.

Evaluation

Baron and Spranca argue that protected values are nearly impossible for people to satisfy, and they cause troubles for the government and other agencies when they try to satisfy the values of a large number of people (Baron, & Spranca, 1997). When everyone’s values can be traded off, then it is possible to weigh the values and reach a pragmatic decision that ensures the maximization of total value satisfaction. Such optimization requires that a person’s utility cannot be increased without reducing another person’s efficiency by almost the same amount.

My opinion regarding protected values slightly differs from the ideas of Baron and Spranca. As much as protected rights cause trouble for government efforts to implement certain programs, some practices and values should be inviolable and should not be compromised by tradeoffs with other things. Values cannot be measured quantitatively for purposes of trading them off with other economic values. Human lives, human rights, and natural resources are infinitely more important than economic values unless the tradeoff of values is for greater good and protection of human life and natural resources.

Response to the paragraph given

The society should respond to protected values concerning means by trying to reach a practical decision concerning some social issues by process of debating and discussion. Discussion allows every individual to present their point of view; therefore, a necessary tradeoff of values can be reached without violating the apparent normative principle of social decision-making.

Conclusion

In conclusion, protected values are those values that tend to display resistance to tradeoffs with other values. According to Baron and Spranca, protected values tend to show tradeoff resistance, quantity insensitivity, moral obligation, and agent relativity. Although protected rights cause trouble for government efforts to implement specific programs, some practices and values should be inviolable and should not be compromised by tradeoffs with other values. The society should respond to protected values concerning means by attempting to reach a practical decision concerning some social issues by the process of debating and discussion.

Reference

Baron, J., & Spranca, M. (1997). Protected values. Organizational behavior and human decision   processes, 70(1), 1-16. Retrieved from      https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~baron/papers/pv97.pdf.