D'Avray, D; (2016) Values in History: Shaping and Applying an Ideal-Type’ Valeurs et systèmes de valeurs. In: Boucheron, P and Gaffuri, L and Genet, J-P, (eds.) Valeurs et systèmes de valeurs (Moyen Âge et Temps modernes). (pp. 47-56). Publications de la Sorbonne: Paris, France.

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Abstract

Values, Valori, Valeurs, Werte: the words have practically the same meanings in the main scholarly languages. But in each of these languages, there is the same ambiguity. The papers for this session are themselves an expression of this ambiguity. This paper and the paper by Guido Mongini are about “values” in the sense of deeply held convictions. The papers by Laurent Feller and Marie-Luce Demonet are about monetary values and the exchange value of things. It would serve no purpose to try to find a deep underlying unity between these different senses. To do so would merely cause confusion. Of course they can be intertwined, as we see in the sessions of the conference (not just the present one). Furthermore, monetary value can sometimes be a “value” in the sense of a deeply held conviction. Arguably it is in some very capitalist societies, or even in quite different societies where material prosperity is thought to be a sign of divine favour. Some of the papers at this conference will doubtless deal with such areas of overlap. Nonetheless the connections in such cases are contingent: there is no intrinsic link between the two senses of “value”. It is best to recognize from the beginning that “value” is simply an equivocal word. Nothing abnormal about that! The word “race” can mean both a “running competition” and “ethnicity”; the word “coach” can mean “pullman” or “trainer”; the word “state” can mean “body politic” as in “Church and State” or “condition”, as in “he is in a bad state”. It is best to be clear from the beginning: this was a conference with two different themes and we should not try to pretend otherwise. Two concepts lurking behind one word, two conferences for the price of one! All the better. Moreover, there are naturally conceptual and etymological links between the two concepts. To elucidate them may be a stimulating exercise and generate insights. That is the right way to take advantage of the conference, rather than trying to find an underlying unity linking “Values A” (= convictions) and “Values B” (= money and analogous measurements). In the languages of sixties semiotics, we should look for “metonymic” rather than “metaphoric” connections: interactions, rather than analogies and similarities. Towards the end of my paper I will attempt do that in a small way, but the first task is to elucidate the “values-as-convictions” concept – “Values A”!

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