Making Values Explicit

This book explores a wide range of topics to demonstrate how relevant values (rather than virtues, affects, emotions or beliefs) motivate people to act in ways that structure their identities, inspiring others to treat them as they see themselves (or want others to see them).

The ‘Climate Change Crisis’ has brought several anomalies into focus. Clear and distinct information fails to alter people’s beliefs, and thus their actions don’t change. By contrast, visual art’s implicit ‘messages’ does tend to alter people’s beliefs over time. The very act of encountering novel values inspires people to shift beliefs to accommodate new values. All of this takes place in such a subtle manner that people may not realise their values have shifted until they act or react differently.

This unusual and innovative book examines how people’s underlying values prompt their spontaneous reactions. These can range from attention to smell (pleasant and unpleasant); ideas regarding worth and value; notions of justice; desire to remediate degraded lands; appreciation of gifts; efforts to boost wellbeing; and strategies for mitigating climate change. In working through these issues, it will prompt readers to reflect upon how their values structure their personal identities, in terms of their daily activities and decisions, and provide the opportunity to evaluate how and whether their actions align with their values.