The Value Concept in Sociology

Values may be seen as absolutes, as inherent in objects, as present within man, and as identical with his behavior. Absolutes are inaccessible to science. Values in objects cannot be discovered apart from human behavior relating to the objects. Internal states cannot be observed apart from action. Thus, what people do is all that can be known about their values. The meaning of an action can be grasped without recourse to any other kind of value concept if meaning is understood as the probability of other events preceding, accompanying, or following it. Norms can be seen as sets of verbal and non-verbal behavior.