From Radical Incommensurability to Sacred Incommensurability: A Reassessment of the Sources, Definitions, and Implications of Value Incommensurability
Dissertation, Columbia University (
2002)
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Abstract
This thesis investigates a topic of increasing interest to political theorists and legal scholars: the possibility that some diverse values may not be comparable to one another. This incomparability, or incommensurability, may have profound implications for decision-making within political communities, perhaps undermining the possibility for rational choice in the face of value conflict. In the dissertation, it is argued that the most common view of incommensurability, a view that is usually associated with such dire implications, is under described and incorrect. Instead, starting with the works of absolutist scholars, I develop an alternate view of incommensurability, what I call sacred incommensurability. This conception does not undermine the possibility of rational political action, but provides a useful language for understanding how political communities define themselves, and how these communities seek to address conflicts between values