In some respects, it seems that William James speaks directly to the existence of  values,  B.F. Skinner seems to address primarily how our preferences are determined and Sigmund Freud addresses the mechanics of each.  Here are representations of each of their theories that provide a basis for how we might see the origination of values and preferences within us.

 
 

. . . more . . .	William James makes the case that all of our obligations, all of what we call good and what we call bad, do not exist as good and bad per se.  They are our constructions and are for each of us but a product of each individual's wants, needs and desires.  The value one places on any given thing -- the goodness or badness of it -- is purely the product of each heart/mind.  . . . more. . .
	Links that relate to William James:     William James (a really comprehensive site)     Rhetoric and Pragmatism     William James on the Web     A big list of resources and references     A View of William James

   
 

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On the premise proposed by James that our values and preferences -- our goods and bads -- are of our own creation, we must look then to hypotheses as to how those preferences are created.  Skinnerian theory would say your values come from your personal experience.  There may be recognition of a small amount of biology there, but there's no sense that you choose what is right or wrong (Daniels, 1998).  You get punished or rewarded for things you did, and that reinforcement history is what determines what you'll deem good and bad.    . . . more. . .

Links that relate to B.F. Skinner:     The B.F. Skinner Foundation     Behavior Analysis, Inc.     B.F. Skinner's Cumulative Publication Record (1930-1993)

 
   
 

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Freud's theory of values and preferences would say that we have evolutionary-based instinctual drives  -- id based drives -- to prefer certain things; we develop over time a consciousness of ways to interact with our external world to get what we want -- ego based drives -- and we have a set of culturally and parentally induced shoulds and should nots -- superego based drives -- that spend a good amount of time in a tension-producing conflict between what we value and what we prefer.   Ego pursues pleasure and tries to avoid unpleasure.  Superego will work, to the degree it is present, to restrict the ego to those pleasures considered appropriate by the environment in which it is developed.  As the tension increases, we experience displeasure or "unpleasure" as Freud terms it in this book.  And as we lower the tension between these drives we experience pleasure. . . . more. . .

Links that relate to Sigmund Freud.  As of this writing, 21,450 web pages exist out there with his name in them somewhere.  Here are a few:     Psych Web's tutorial:  Freud's theory of development     Freud: The Interpretation of Dreams [Full-length, browsable       version of Freud's classic work]    Sigmund Freud, "The Physical Aparatus" and "The Theory       of the  Instincts" [The first two chapters from An Outline       of Psychoanalysis     Sigmund Freud, "The Structure of the Unconscious"       [another chapter from An Outline of Psychoanalysis

 

 

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I see Freud's description of how we are organized as foundational in understanding the ways in which our ids, egos and superegos work in symphony with reinforcement and conditioning.  And I see Skinner's theory of reinforcement and extinction as a description of (but not necessarily a prescription for!) the ways in which our ids seek and receive satisfaction in accordance with the pleasure principles described by both Freud and Skinner.  And in most cases, these concepts at least generally will satisfactorily explain how our values and preferences are generated.   However, I find that, at least on the surface,  neither theory properly explains the existence of inner spiritual experience or the predisposition one may have for placing it high in one's order of values.  . . . more. . .

 
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