We’re talking past each other by using differing definitions of “value”. Economic value is affected by scarcity (and other factors).
But I have been talking about ethical value—the thing that classical utilitarians talk about when they say that happiness is valuable. A classical utilitarian doesn’t care about whether wolves are common or scarce; they care about how the relative scarcity of wolves makes people feel.
Put another way, I’ve been talking about terminal values, which are not in any way fungible. I think you’ve been talking about instrumental values, which are. Is that at all right?
We’re talking past each other by using differing definitions of “value”. Economic value is affected by scarcity (and other factors).
But I have been talking about ethical value—the thing that classical utilitarians talk about when they say that happiness is valuable. A classical utilitarian doesn’t care about whether wolves are common or scarce; they care about how the relative scarcity of wolves makes people feel.
Put another way, I’ve been talking about terminal values, which are not in any way fungible. I think you’ve been talking about instrumental values, which are. Is that at all right?