Why Judgments Matter, gives many examples of why value judgments are importantin our lives. I feel that value judgments are as equally important and it shouldbe evident why after briefly explaining Frith’s examples and my own as well.
In his first example, Mr. Frith gives insight to David Hare’s comment, “Inthe end, Keats was just better than Bob Dylan”. The media, without delay,misjudged the true meaning of Hare’s statement and transposed it into a debateof value. Although Mr.
Frith did not agree with the media’s tactics, he didagree with the ?value’ debate. Mr. Frith Feels that value judgments”organize social relations” in our life, and he further proves this pointusing an example from popular music. Mr. Frith focuses on views in musicstudies. Judgments about musicians are generally made in two ways.
Firstly, isthe elevation of excitement with ?community'(joining of performers and theiraudience). Secondly, aesthetic and ethical sub-tones during community. Thisvalue placed upon the musicians is very important, this is possibly the decidingfactor in the performer’s career. If more fans come to a concert, then theperformer becomes more popular or valuable.
The same goes for the messages sentout by the performer during a performance. A message that is widely accepted andadorned will attract more fans. I find that the critical analysis of valuejudgments in our lives is of equal importance. I agree with Mr. Frith’sfindings and find them to be true in other life settings as well. As individualswe use value judgments to prioritize important characteristics in our life,which shape us into cultural individuals.
We place a high judgment on the socialaspect of our culture. Some examples of this include; friendships, personalappearances, and material items. In friendships, we place value judgment onmoral attributes set by others. It is these attributes that we judge to beworthy or unworthy of our friendship.
Those of similar moral values tend to findeach other in companionship. In personal appearances, we place value on what werepresent ourselves to be. Higher income families tend to pay more attention tothis value for it is a language in which is unspoken. Financial value of one’sappearance and the personal value (self esteem) of one’s self tend to runparallel.
People place different values on the material items they posses. Twofamilies may bring the same income into a household, and posses some of thesimilar materials. However, it is the value they place on their material itemsthat make them different. It is this difference that brings out the subjectiveindividuality. “Evaluation is a key cultural activity”, according to Frith. Without evaluation we would not be able to set some separation between eachother as individuals, eventually becoming numb to culture as we know it.
I feelit is imperative that we evaluate every aspect of our lives, in turn ensuringthe greatest personal happiness. How does one attain a favorite? Not bysuggestion of a higher authority, but by evaluation. Putting value on things andmaking value judgments is what enables us to label what we like and what makesus happy. Without it, we would not be happy.
