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Single Idea 24176

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / d. Subjective value]

Full Idea

It has been proposed (by Dorothea Debus 2015) that it is sufficient for a person's activity to have value that they give full attention to it.

Gist of Idea

A person's activities have value when they receive full attention

Source

Tom Cochrane (The Aesthetic Value of the World [2021], 4.6)

A Reaction

Rather narrow, but interesting. An expert might do something very valuable while being bored and inattentive. Cochrane observes that torturing someone needs full attention. But we think life is going well if we are fully absorbed in our activities.

Book Reference

Cochrane,Tom: 'The Aesthetic Value of the World' [OUP 2021], p.86