VALUE JUDGEMENT

WHAT IS VALUE JUDGEMENT?

is a judgment of the rightness or wrongness of something or someone, or of the

usefulness of something or someone, based on a comparison or other relativity.
As a generalization, a value judgment can refer to a judgment based upon a particular
set of values or on a particular value system. A related meaning of value judgment is
an expedient evaluation based upon limited information at hand, an evaluation was
undertaken because a decision must be made on short notice. Roughly speaking a
value judgment is a claim about something’s moral, practical, or aesthetic worth.
Value judgments do not simply describe the world; they prescribe certain attitudes or
behaviors toward the world.When you say things like:

• That’s good.
• That’s bad.
• That’s wonderful.
• That’s a bummer.
• That’s not right.
• That’s sick.
• That’s not fair.
• That’s obligatory.
• That’s admirable.
• That’s shameful.
• That’s despicable
• That’s shouldn’t be.
• That’s okay.

You are usually making a certain kind of value judgment. We often say that value
judgments are normative, which means they evaluate things with respect to certain
standards or norms. One way to get a quick handle on the nature of value judgments is
to see that any statement of fact can easily be converted into a value judgment by
introducing a value term.
In the table below, the statements on the left are labeled descriptive. The
corresponding value judgments on the right are labeled prescriptive.
 DESCRIPTIVE PRESCRIPTIVE
The U.S. invaded Iraq. The U.S. shouldn’t have
invaded Iraq.
Jeremy is a student. Jeremy is an excellent student.
Sally is frightened. It’s okay for Sally to be
frightened.
The doctor accidentally killed the The doctor should not be
patient. blamed for accidentally killing
the patient.
It’s hard to find a job. You haven’t tried hard enough
to find a job.
Those pants are tight on you. Those pants are way too tight on
you.
Picasso was a 20th century painter Picasso was one of the greatest
painters of the 20th century.
Jose is so in love with Brittany. It’s wonderful that Jose is so in
love with Brittany.
Our teacher takes forever to return It’s not fair of our teacher to
homework. take forever to return the
homework.

Things to consider before making a value judgement:

1. Think and analyze the situation before giving your perceptual understanding.
2. Give your value judgements without bias.
3. Before giving statements, always put yourself on the situation they are in and speak
your side as if like you are one of the persons involved in the issue.
4. Reflect!!!
5. Speak with a concerned heart to avoid negative criticisms.
ACTIVITY 1

Label the examples given if it is Descriptive or Prescriptive.Use the table below

1. The mug of coffee in front of me is now at room temperature.

2. I had a toast and eggs for breakfast this morning.
3. Kevin is under six feet tall.
4. If you wanted to pass the test you should have studied harder.
5. "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, is a better movie than Star Wars
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace."
6. If an employer finds that older people are underrepresented in their workplace,
they can state in recruitment adverts that older people are welcome to apply.
7. President Bush did his best to defend the country from terrorism, so I think he
deserves more respect.

DESCRIPTIVE PRESCRIPTIVE
ACTIVITY 2

Let's Test Your Knowledge! Read and analyze the sentences below. Identify whether
the statements are just describing a situation (DESCRIPTIVE), or it lays value
judgements normative(PRESCRIPTIVE). Write D if its DESCRIPTIVE and P if it is
PRESCRIPTIVE..

1. Michael Jackson died in 2009.

2. Surrogates should make life-sustaining treatment decisions based on their
knowledge of patients’ preferences.
3. The car is red.
4. Jazz is better than pop music.
5. Killing an innocent person is wrong.
6. The river is flowing quickly.
7. NO FACEMASK, NO ENTRY!
8. Low sugar consumption reduces risk of diabetes and heart failures. 9. Your
electrocardiogram results are normal.
10. It is good that Bernice studied hard for her test.