Are there organic unities?

Abstract

This paper lays out two possible ways in which the value of the whole may vary from the sum of the intrinsic values of the parts–Moore’s way, in which items retain their intrinsic value from case to case, and my way in which even intrinsic value can vary according to context. An argument is given for preferring my way, which appeals to an essential link between values and reasons. The same perspective is then applied to the way in which the semantic purport of a whole is constructed out of ‘independent’ purports of the parts. The result is a form of particularism in the theory of meaning.