No, I really think instrumental vs. intrinsic values is a bankrupt set of ideas, despite being standard. Our values were not generated by starting with a set of intrinsic values, then adding those instrumental values needed to achieve them.
Well, then please reconsider. Humans intrinsically value warmth, sweetness, fullness, orgasms, the absence of pain—and various other things. They instrumentally value money, qualifications, property rights, and so on. Mostly the instrumental values arise out of the intrinsic values—in the context of some environment.
There may be some wrinkles to this kind of model. There may be instinctive predispositions towards some instrumental values. There may be instrumental values that only develop as a result of certain types of interaction with the environment. However, overall, I fail to see how arguing with the significance of the instrumental / intrinsic value split is productive.
I am pretty sure that any more sophisticated model would still exhibit the same instrumental / intrinsic value division.
Well, then please reconsider. Humans intrinsically value warmth, sweetness, fullness, orgasms, the absence of pain—and various other things. They instrumentally value money, qualifications, property rights, and so on. Mostly the instrumental values arise out of the intrinsic values—in the context of some environment.
There may be some wrinkles to this kind of model. There may be instinctive predispositions towards some instrumental values. There may be instrumental values that only develop as a result of certain types of interaction with the environment. However, overall, I fail to see how arguing with the significance of the instrumental / intrinsic value split is productive.
I am pretty sure that any more sophisticated model would still exhibit the same instrumental / intrinsic value division.