PROTECTED VALUES- CRITICAL REVIEW
Introduction
In their article “Protected Values”, Jonathan Baron and Mark Spranca define protected values as those values that do not make trade-offs or compromise with other values, specifically economic values. Baron and Spranca propose that protected values arise from deontological rules concerning action. The two also propose that protected values not only display trade off resistance but they also tend to display 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 trade-offs 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 big number of people. Although protected rights cause trouble for government efforts to implement certain programs, some practices and values should be inviolable and should not be compromised by trade-offs with other values
Summary
Baron and Spranca define protected values as those values that resist trade-offs with others, especially economic values. People who hold protected values believe that human life, human rights, and natural resources are more important compared to other economic values. According to Baron and Spranca, protected values tend to display trade-off 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 utilitarian 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 utilitarian 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 certain actions rather than value for the potential results of such actions. 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 trade-offs by arguing that some practices should be not be compromised by trade-offs with anything else.
Baron and Spranca also propose that protected values express absolute deontological rules that are applicable 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 certain 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 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 utilitarian decision that ensure the maximization of total value satisfaction. Such optimization requires that a person’s utility cannot be increased without reducing another person’s utility by almost the same amount.
My opinion regarding protected values slightly differs with 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 trade-offs with other things. Values cannot be measures 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 trade-off 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 utilitarian decision concerning some social issues by a process of debating and discussion. Discussion allows every individual to present their point of view, therefore, absolutely necessary trade-off 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 trade-offs with other values. According to Baron and Spranca, protected values tend to display trade-off resistance, quantity insensitivity, moral obligation, and agent relativity. Although protected rights cause trouble for government efforts to implement certain programs, some practices and values should be inviolable and should not be compromised by trade-offs with other values. The society should respond to protected values concerning means by attempting to reach a utilitarian decision concerning some social issues by a 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