There are two different views on the concept of "values" in academic circles: narrow sense and broad sense. Most scholars advocate "values" in a narrow sense. The narrow sense of "values" is the abbreviation of "values", and what people say in real life is "values". Accordingly, the study of values is mainly a normative study, and its main purpose is to establish a correct value system and publicize the rationality of this value concept on the basis of investigating, comparing and studying various values in history and reality. People have different views on this issue, mainly reflected in how to grasp the content of "values" and how to evaluate the changes and trends of current values.
Other scholars advocate "values" in a broad sense, which is equivalent to the "axiology" in the basic theory of philosophy, and refers to a theoretical system with value as a specific object similar to the view of nature and history. There are some differences between such "values" and "values": "values" are essentially basic theories, viewpoints and methods about values, while "values" are people's positions, viewpoints, attitudes and choices about specific values such as good and bad, gains and losses, good and evil, beauty and ugliness. The former is like religion and ethics in the scientific system, while the latter is like people's realistic religious attitude, specific beliefs, personal morality and moral quality.
Generally speaking, people generally use the concept of "values" in a narrow sense. Only under very special circumstances, when discussing some basic theoretical issues, such as the relationship between values and historical views, can we use the word "values" in a broad sense. Of course, although values can be regarded as the abbreviation of values, we must pay attention to distinguish between theoretical research and normative construction in our research. If we confuse fact judgment with value judgment from the beginning, it is not conducive to the in-depth study of value theory and the construction of reasonable values.
Second, the basic meaning of "values":
At present, no important differences have been found in the following aspects: the so-called values include people's social beliefs, life beliefs, political ideals, moral pursuits, life principles and so on. , is a comprehensive system of people's values, beliefs, standards and ideals, and an internal orientation system of people's interests, needs, psychology and behavior. Individual values are the core of outlook on life, while group values are the leading components of their ideological culture and social ideology.
Specifically, values are people's basic views and general concepts on the value of a certain kind of things, as well as people's way of choosing such things and the way of pursuing values that guide the behavior of the subject. The content of values, on the one hand, manifests as value orientation and value pursuit, and condenses into certain value goals; On the other hand, it becomes the conceptual model and framework for the subject to judge whether the object has value or not, the ideological basis for the subject to judge and choose value, and the ideological motivation and starting point for decision-making.
From the microscopic point of view, values are the deep belief system in people's minds, which plays the role of behavior orientation, emotional stimulation and evaluation criteria in people's value activities, constitutes an important content of personal outlook on life, restricts all aspects of life activities, and is an invisible and powerful world; From a macro point of view, values are the core and soul of the social and cultural system, representing the normative judgment of society on what should be advocated and what should be opposed. Society inculcates and transmits these ideas to individuals in various ways, and internalizes them into personal behavior norms. Horizontally, values can be divided into two levels: daily values and philosophical values. The former is a concept spontaneously formed by people in secular life, while the latter is a theoretical and systematic concept system.
Theoretical discussion always gives people the impression of abstract speculation, but in fact, values are the most lively concept. It is a concept that directly guides people's life activities and permeates people's daily activities such as eating and drinking, weddings and funerals, communication with people, work and entertainment, tourism and shopping. , and become the goal orientation of people's activities and the standard of judging things. In the field of national social, economic and political life, it shows the great existence and function of social dominant values (that is, social ideology).
Third, the content structure of values:
Most scholars believe that values are the product of life practice and cultural accumulation of a certain subject (nation, class, stratum and individual, etc.). ), the reflection of the value movement in real life in people's minds, in turn, becomes the standard and principle for people to evaluate things and people. Values are a systematic existence, in which there are differences between deep structure and surface structure; The former shows the cultural mentality and mindset of a subject, which is relatively stable and stubborn, while the latter is more flexible. It can cope with the changes in real life by adding or subtracting some norms, and maintain the stability and consistency of the deep structure. Only profound social change or revolution can cause the corresponding evolution of deep structure.
But as far as the specific structure of values is concerned, scholars have the following views:
The first view holds that values are mainly composed of righteousness and benefit, reason and desire, and virtue. Righteousness and benefit include the relationship between public welfare and self-interest, spiritual life and material life, reason and desire include the relationship between life and desire, morality and life, and virtue is the relationship between morality and ability, depending on morality or strength. These categories belong to China's traditional philosophy, but they are integrated into the connotation of the present era. Only by defining the content of values in this way can we better realize the docking with tradition.
The second view, through in-depth analysis and induction, holds that values are mainly composed of the subject's personal sense of historical orientation, social order belief, social norms consciousness, value practice consciousness (purpose and means consciousness) and value orientation consciousness, including how to treat people and themselves, individuals and groups, life and death, body and mind, social honor and personal dignity, equality, freedom and justice and other concepts of social order and officials. The basic contents of these five aspects are organically linked, thus forming a "value coordinate system" in people's minds.
There is also a view that values include target system, means system, rule system and restriction system, which stipulate each other and each is composed of many factors.
There is no difference between the above viewpoints in principle, but the difference lies in the angle of emphasis and the depth and breadth of generalization. Relatively speaking, the second view is more in-depth and comprehensive, with strong theoretical explanatory power, persuasiveness and application potential.
Four, the core and basic forms of expression of values:
Regarding the core of values, one view (usually some scholars in ethics) thinks that it is individual and collective, such as individualism and collectivism.
Another view is that people's realistic status and interests stipulate people's values. The interests here are not only material interests, but also political and spiritual interests. Everyone's thoughts and actions revolve around interests. Only by going deep into the interest relationship and interest view can we truly understand the differences and opposites of people's values. Therefore, the concept of interests is not only the basis of values, but also its core.
The third view is comprehensive, and holds that the first two are included in the "subject orientation": who is the subject of value, and how he grasps his position, interests, mission and his relationship with other people's society are the essence and core of all values. Why is the human problem the fundamental problem?
The above viewpoints mainly analyze the differences in depth and level of generalization, and there is no substantive difference.
There are no more discussions and arguments about the basic forms of values. At present, it is expounded from a positive system, which has a great influence. As an ideological value consciousness, values are usually manifested as the sum of people's beliefs, beliefs and ideals about the basic values of life. Faith, belief and ideal are the most common and basic expressions of some values.
Faith is a psychological state in which people have deep trust in a certain reality or concept. Belief is a natural mode of thinking and action based on people's practical experience of what to think and do in life practice. Any belief, what it reveals, is always related to the attitude people "should" hold and the action they "should" take.
Faith is people's belief in universal, highest (or extremely high) values. Faith makes people's whole spiritual activity take it as the core, forms a complete spiritual direction, and mobilizes various spiritual factors to serve it. Therefore, belief occupies a dominant position in people's spiritual activities and is the adjustment center of people's value consciousness activities. Faith is the "backbone" of life and the orientation of people's all-round value consciousness. Therefore, people can't live without faith, and life without faith is soulless. The deviation of belief will lead to the mistake of life path and social development direction.
Ideal is a value target system based on certain beliefs and beliefs. This target system is marked by the future image of individuals or society, which provides a conscious model or "model" for people's value pursuit. From the content, ideal is the concrete image of the highest (or extremely high) value goal in belief; Formally, ideal is the unity of knowledge, logic and emotion, desire and purpose. The cultivation, establishment and pursuit of ideals are the highest realm of human spiritual life. Realizing the lofty ideal of life is the highest self-value of life; Pursuing and realizing lofty social ideals is the highest social value of human life.