Abstract

Patrick Frierson

Smithian Intrinsic Value

This paper develops a Smithian account of three types of intrinsic value:  non-instrumental value, trumping value, and non-relational value. I start by showing how TMS provides a normative framework for a rich “proper-attitude” account of value that is neither strictly subjectivist nor strictly objectivist. I then show that Smith can account for all three sorts of intrinsic value. In that context, I specifically address concerns about whether Smith’s particularism rules out non-relational value, and I show that it does not. I end by suggesting an even richer Smithian approach to intrinsic value accounts for the wide variety of values implicit in proper attitudes.