Value is a human-constructed measure of worth assigned to objects, actions, or states through social agreement. Its parameters are: (1) relativity — value exists only in relation to a valuer or valuation system, never as an intrinsic property; (2) commensurability — value enables comparison between otherwise incommensurable things by mapping them onto a shared metric (currency, utility, prestige); (3) plasticity — value shifts with context, culture, and time, yet stabilizes through repeated use into conventional worth. Value persists through language (pricing, ranking, evaluation), institutions (markets, appraisal systems, grading), and teaching (norms of what counts as valuable). [formal: valor | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
value
Value is a human-constructed measure of worth assigned to objects, actions, or states through social agreement. Its parameters are: (1) relativity — value exists only in relation to a valuer or valuation system, never as an intrinsic prope…
Definition
Why it is in scope
Value is the human-made concept of worth — a scale or standard by which people judge things as good, bad, useful, beautiful, or important. It is entirely constructed through cultural agreement, economic systems, and moral frameworks; no value exists in nature without a valuer.
Names and aliases
- valueen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Relations to this entry
- cmrcnp9e200rx13vz0kqgndzm← INSTANCE_OF
price is a specific kind of value — the quantified economic valuation of a good, service, or right. The 'X is a kind of Y' test holds.
- cmrfbqvof01dacqqt8d53nlei← INSTANCE_OF
Dignity is a specific kind of value — the intrinsic worth of persons. Specific→general: INSTANCE_OF (Law 9).
- cmrcnzopf015113vzqibaizsq← DEPENDS_ON
Envy is a complex social emotion that requires a framework of value to operate: one can only envy what one perceives as valuable in another. Without the capacity to assign and compare value, envy cannot arise. The dependency is present-tense and constitutive.
- cmsg069a800vtqszg8c9y518b← DERIVED_FROM
The shapley value DERIVED_FROM the general concept of value — it took the abstract notion of individual worth in a coalition and gave it a precise mathematical formulation. The shapley value builds on the concept of value and is historically derived from game-theoretic treatments of value distribution.
- cmrg3q8zm00j62a1n09mgh3q5← DEPENDS_ON
Merit is an assessment of worthiness — it needs the concept of value to operate now. Remove value (the concept of worth/importance) and merit ceases to function as a concept of assessed worth. This passes the removal test (Law 8): merit cannot operate without a framework of value.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 20, 2026, 7:53 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 238ace72663e7da40f8d9a9b5087611552766a4ccd135bc0298379ea589c0b32