Incommensurable Values
Updated 2026-09-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Things are sometimes said to be incommensurable. The word has many readings, but at the heart of all of them is a difficulty of comparison, and from this follow deep questions about practical reason and rational choice. The core notion is that no common unit of measure exists between two options; the phenomenon may take the form of incomparability, or of being on a par, where comparison is possible without either option being better or equal.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Scale check: ask first whether the two options admit of a common measure, and if not, give up precise ranking. - Type sorting: distinguish what cannot be compared from what can be compared though not equal. - Dilemma confirmation: judge whether the conflict is a genuine dilemma or merely an incompletely performed weighing.
Anchor fast decisions
Commensurability requires a common unit of measure; incommensurability means no such single scale exists. It may show up as the impossibility of saying which option is better or equal, or as being on a par, comparable without being equal. This difference determines whether incommensurability makes rational choice impossible and whether it generates moral dilemmas.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- plato.stanford.eduhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/value-incommensurable/verified
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