13. Statements of Fact, Statements of Value

“Musicians are people who make music” is a factual statement. Using such a statement as our starting point, we can make an argument that is sound, if not terribly interesting:

 

Musicians are people who make music.

Dorothy is a musician.

It follows that Dorothy makes music.

 

Now consider this statement: “Musicians are superior people.” This is a statement not of fact but of value. It expresses the opinion of the one who makes it. There is nothing to prohibit us from making arguments that take off from statements of value. Thus:

 

Musicians are superior people.

Cecilia is a musician.

Cecilia, therefore, is a superior person.

 

But what kind of credence are we to give to arguments based upon statements of value, such as in the example above? Not much, I think we would all agree. Note the vagueness of the term “superior.” What is that supposed to mean? An argument based upon a statement of value can never have the same kind of conclusiveness as an argument based upon a statement of fact, for evaluations can be contested interminably. But not all statements of value are lacking in soundness. The test for the soundness of a statement of value is the extent to which it is founded upon objective fact. The broader and more solid the foundation of objective fact, the more reliable the statement of value based on it. For example, the evaluative judgments of someone who has a great deal of knowledge in a given area are to be respected, provided of course that those judgments pertain to the area of expertise in question. The evaluative judgments of a Robert Frost on the subject of poetry would carry weight, as would those of a Ted Williams on the subject of baseball, but we would hesitate to put much stock in Frost on baseball or Williams on poetry.