The development of the science makes possible the measurement of value as accurately as a thermometer measures heat. As we have seen the quest for a value science originated with the early Greek philosophers but the acknowledge father of value science is Dr Robert S Hartman.
Philosophy describes morals and values in words which are not quantified or qualified. As we shall see the emergence of a value science brings a comparison with modern day Psychology where most assessments describe the subject’s traits, biases and personality in words and have no scientific measurement.
When we talk to a prospect about our values based profiling technology a common misconception is to think that the Axiometrics™ profile reports on the subjects values in words, so the subject wants to know what their values or those of their staff are, but these are meaningless words based on moral philosophy, or worse what a company believes its clients expectations of it are (subjective morality). The Axiometrics™ profile measures the value sensitivity of a person, their capacity for seeing the relevant in a situation, their sense of proportion, their degree of value distortion and their vision of value, and so is a measurement of the valuing process as well as reports on how this influences the thinking and judgement of the subject.
Our decisions and actions involve two elements: a factual aspect, which can be seen and objectively measured, and an intangible aspect, which can be felt and known but may not be immediately expressible in reasons, facts, and causes. For example, you may request, "Please get my 'good' shoes" which may mean for you 'white tennis shoes which are well worn. The descriptive properties "white, tennis shoes and well worn" are easily identifiable. The descriptive phrase "good" represents a particular set of properties that you identify with shoes that you consider "good."
If the person to whom you make your request does not know what this combination of properties is, he or she may not only have difficulty finding your "good shoes," but, more importantly, may disagree with you about what constitutes "good shoes."
Normally we refer to these intangibles - our attitudes, likes, dislikes, and beliefs - as values. Moreover, we usually consider them to be subjective, to be the private property of those who know the special meaning of the value words
The problem we experience is that each person's values seem to belong privately to him or her. The science of axiology provides a solution to this problem by forming a frame of reference, which can be applied to any and all value situations.
Dr. Hartman discovered that the key to value experience lay not just in the physical properties (white, Tennis shoes, well-worn), which are the basic elements of our experience, but also in the particular pattern of these elements. For example, your valuation "good shoes" requires the fulfillment of the patterns "white, tennis shoes and well worn." He discovered a mathematics, which reproduces your concept "good shoes" by measuring the particular pattern of items, which fulfill your "concept."
The mathematical and logical structure of value concepts is the cornerstone of axiology. This structure allows us to measure 'how' a person thinks and perceives rather than 'what' he or she is thinking. In other words, value science tells us what we pay attention to, what is important to us, and what our prejudices are. Natural science explains human behavior. Axiology explains and measures the thinking, which forms the foundation for, and leads to, behaviour.
Extract from ‘Axiology: The Science of Value’. Copyright© 2002 - Axiometrics International, Inc.