THE SECOND DIMENSION OF VALUE

In what I shall call a second dimension of value, value expands outward from mere subjective experience into the realm of action and practical engagements with the world, including activities in the pursuit of purposes or interests and attachments to things and persons we care about. Some basic value experiences may be momentary, analogous to points on a plane, while others, such as enjoying a horseback ride, will be stretched out over time, like lines in a plane. Experience stretched out in this way is sentient life; and when this life involves purposive activity with practical goals and attachments to things cared about that go beyond mere enjoyment or pleasure, we arrive at a second dimension of value.

This second dimension of value includes not only experiences, but also activities undertaken by individuals in the pursuit of plans, intentions, interests and purposes. If horseback riding is merely an enjoyable pastime for Jane, then the value of it for her is merely first-dimensional. But if the riding also has some further purpose, such as rounding up cattle or delivering mail, then we are into a second dimension of value. Jane may also enjoy the riding for its own sake in addition to its serving a useful function; and in that case she experiences value in both the first and second dimensions.