Value and Scale: Some Observations and a Proposal

Year, pages: 2021, 596 - 625

In this paper, I investigate the scalar semantics of evaluative adjective in general, and of good in particular. Lassiter (2017) has argued that good, when taking propositions as arguments, has an interval scale. I argue that there’s evidence in support of the view that good, when taking individuals as argument, has a scale that is stronger than interval, but weaker than ratio. In particular, I propose that individual-level good has a “round” ratio scale, which allows a broader set of ratio transformations than standard ratio scales. This conclusion is consistent with the fact that good admits round ratio modifiers (twice as good), but eschews precise ones (# 1.38x as good). An important consequence of this view is that the scales of individual and propositional-level good are severed.

Soria-Ruiz, A. 2021. Value and Scale: Some Observations and a Proposal. In Organon F, vol. 28, no.3, pp. 596-625. 1335-0668. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28306

Soria-Ruiz, A. (2021). Value and Scale: Some Observations and a Proposal. Organon F, 28(3), 596-625. 1335-0668. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28306

Publisher: Filozofický ústav SAV, Filosofický ústav AVČR

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0)