VC from First Principles

It was established that 'value', in the broadest sense, can best be understood by addressing the fields of philosophy and political economy. In the latter, distinct, but associated, ideas of 'use value' and 'exchange value' were found to inform basic embedded assumptions of what, for most of us, value appears to mean. It was further discovered that 18th century utilitarian discourse on the balancing of 'pleasure' and 'pain' could offer some understanding on how value-related choices might be made, but this did not provide adequate explanation of the decision making process itself. However, within the realm of philosophy, two key concepts were found that clarify how and why we choose and prioritise available options. Frondizi (1971) examines the role that object qualities play in our decision making actions, and identifies how we seek out particular product/service attributes to bring advantage to our lives. Critical to the search process are human, or personal, values that Rokeach (1973) perceives primarily as motivational and that, ultimately, determine the choices we make. Combined, these ideas allow 'value' to be viewed as an essentially contingent property that can reside, coincidentally, in the subject, the object, and at the point of interaction between the two. Some preliminary understanding of the nature of VC is therefore established.