Roughly, a terminal value is a thing you value for its own sake.
This is contrasted with instrumental values, which are things you value only because they provide a path to terminal values.
For example: money, on this view, is something we value only instrumentally… having large piles of money with no way to spend it isn’t actually what anyone wants.
The linked comment seems to be questioning whether terminal values are stable or unambiguous, rather than whether they exist. Unless the ambiguity goes so deep as to make the values meaningless … but that seems far-fetched.
Roughly, a terminal value is a thing you value for its own sake.
This is contrasted with instrumental values, which are things you value only because they provide a path to terminal values.
For example: money, on this view, is something we value only instrumentally… having large piles of money with no way to spend it isn’t actually what anyone wants.
Caveat: I should clarify that I am not sure terminal values actually exist, personally.
The linked comment seems to be questioning whether terminal values are stable or unambiguous, rather than whether they exist. Unless the ambiguity goes so deep as to make the values meaningless … but that seems far-fetched.
Hm… maybe. Certainly my understanding of the concept of terminal values includes stability, so I haven’t drawn that distinction much in my thinking.
That said, I don’t quite see how considering them distinct resolves any of my concerns. Can you expand on your thinking here?