Clarification/Follow-up by Oldstillwild on 08/28/08 12:11 pm:
...there isnt any human being doing anything without a value/goal....

Clarification/Follow-up by tonyrey on 08/28/08 1:59 pm:
Jim,

If values are part of the narrative our brain puts together why isn't everything else part of that narrative?

Clarification/Follow-up by tonyrey on 08/29/08 7:09 pm:
server

Your definition of a value as "any desirable quality that can improve our lives" implies that life itself is valuable. Otherwise why bother to improve it? Ernest Nagel pointed out that life is valuable because it consists of opportunities. Since opportunities are objective facts they cannot be human constructs.

We humans can also choose to ignore our instincts, e.g. by letting ourselves die. If life is not intrinsically valuable then even a rational existence is valueless, all
our reasoning is valueless and it does not make sense to prefer one conclusion to another. The inevitable outcome of moral subjectivism is nihilism...

Clarification/Follow-up by server on 08/30/08 6:06 am:
tonyrey,

Of course life is valuable. Different people have different ways to describe why life is valuable. I don't really like the statement "life is valuable because it consists of opportunities." because when there is an opportunity, there would also be a threat. Opportunity and threat always go together. When there is a chance to succeed, there is also a chance to fail. It is better to say that life is valuable because it is a challenge to us.

To me, life is valuable because it is a wonderful gift. We should try our best to experience it, add values to it, and share it with others.

If a person chooses to destroy this wonderful gift by letting himself die, he must be irrational. There must be something wrong with him somewhere.

Clarification/Follow-up by tonyrey on 08/30/08 1:46 pm:
server,

I'm delighted you agree!