The dialectical structure of value judgments

pp. 175-195

in: Stephen Petro, Rationality, virtue, and liberation, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

In this chapter, I utilize the dialectical structure of value judgment provided by Gewirth and Habermas's theories in order to show that deontic concepts and their correlative judgments are logically and semantically intertwined with aretaic concepts. Importantly, however, deontic concepts are necessarily dependent upon aretaic concepts for their content and meaningfulness.