The Evaluative And Normative Foundation Of Choice-Making In Dilemma

The notion of "Incommensurability" in the theory of value comparison has opposed much difficulty to the plurality of values.The comparison of plural values seems difficult in the absence of common evaluative scale,namely incommensurable.Scholars argue for the possibility of comparing the incommensurables.The incommensurables can be compared,but in the method of assuming the existence of a fourth value relation "parity",other than the trichotomy of value relations.Parity is not a negation of the traditional trichotomy relations of "betterness","worseness","equalgoodness",but a positive supplement.The problem of value incommensurability can be solved by a normative analysis.The real problem of incommensurability refers to the situations where the covering value or choice consideration involves multiple ordinal or cardinal comparative scales.In order to compare items with multiple aspects of values,the analysis has to be shifted from the evaluation of valuable objects to the justification of rational choice of the agent.The theory of positive action of Joseph Raz illustrates how to avoid the difficulty of confirming the possibility of parity while failing to specify the exact formulation of parity.Ruth Chang offered the model of the intervals of evaluative difference of value comparison,which intended to unify the normative justification of all four relations,but failed to differentiate the parity from the trichotomy thesis.Joshua Gert agrees with Raz in that it is necessary to distinguish two normative conditions: required and permitted.That what is required is a "strong" normative condition compared to the "weak" condition of what is permitted.The former applies to the determinate comparison of trichotomy relations,and the latter can be applied to the incommensurables.Wlodek Rabinowicz proposed the model of the intersections of permissible preference orderings in comparison of all four value relations.This model is relatively more compatible and coherent than others.These efforts of rationally define parity can respond to the argument of transitivity,which shall not be regarded as a real threat to the relation of parity.