So my top 5 values were:

Family, Friendship, Health, Integrity, and Loyalty

So far today I have gone to work, gone on a bike ride, and started my homework. So the question is; Do my actions reflect the values I have chosen? I think they do. I go to work everyday to provide a better life for my family. I came home for lunch because my wife had the day off and I treasure the time we get to spend together (even if it is just 20 minutes). I’m training for another Ironman Triathlon to continue to lead a healthy lifestyle so that I can be active with my kids (personal accomplishment and personal development were #6 and #8 on my list). As far as friendship goes, after I complete this assignment, I’m taking one of my friends out for a beer before he goes to Peru. Integrity and Loyalty thankfully aren’t tested on a daily basis, but they are values instilled in me by my father and it’s not usually pretty when they are. Upon further introspection, they all tie into each other. I learned the importance of integrity and loyalty from my parents, my friends and wife would not be my friends and wife without these vital qualities. Health however, is sort of the odd man out, though, without your health it is very difficult to enjoy life. When I think about the values my parents raised me with, pretty much all of them stuck. The religion didn’t, but the values stayed.

What goals do I have yet to pursue? Within a year I will graduate from college. In the next couple years my wife and I will undertake the endeavor of parenthood.  In 2018 I’m going to race Ironman Cour d’Alene. I am going to move up either with Anheuser-Busch or wherever else my career takes me. I would like to work with a craft brewery and sell something I’m truly passionate about. I will continually strive to be a better husband and father.

What stands in the way? Working 70 hours a week makes it difficult to find time for homework. Setting up a budget and adjusting to a different lifestyle will be a hurdle for successful parenting. The only difficulty with Ironman Cour d’Alene will be scheduling my time, but with school out of the way that should make things easier. In order to advance my career I have to have a college degree. A lot of things need to fall into place for me to move to a craft brewery. As for being a great husband and father, only I stand in my way for that.

Since I can’t seem to post a clear picture of my list I will just type the bottom fifteen;

Personal Accomplishment, Enjoyment, Personal Development, Leadership, Location, Wisdom, Security, Community, Wealth, Expertness, Service, Prestige, Power, Independence, Creativity

“Even if the four basic modes and the two major synthetic modes through which we form our values are accepted as correct and complete, should we not be concerned that this framework puts too much emphasis on how we arrive at our values? Surely what matter most are the values themselves not the way we arrive at them.” (p. 13)

The author initially goes on to claim that this is a valid argument, however I would disagree. Before I go on I would like to state that I understand that my argument is predicated on my own personal bias in which I value two of the four basic modes more than the other two. Basing a value judgment on on sense experience and/or deductive logic is, in my mind, far superior to one based off emotion or intuition. Suppose I were driving in a car with two friends and we were trying to get to Spencer’s Butte from downtown. One friend states that we should turn right because they feel that it is the correct way to go. The other friend informs me that Spencer’s Butte is South of town, it’s late in the day, and the sun is in our eyes, therefore left is the only right conclusion.

Now I realize that in this simplistic example I made the person supporting my position right and the other incorrect. Consider a more moral issue: consider an argument over murder/assault/theft being legalized. One of an emotional or intuitive mindset might argue that they feel that murder is wrong, or that god says it’s wrong. This doesn’t much sway me either way because perhaps I simply feel the same way or believe in the same god. However, if someone were to present me with the argument that if I steal from you and you beat me half to death and I come back and kill you, well that doesn’t sound like a world I’d like to live in. So how about instead we come to an agreed upon set of social standards, by which to act that we can all agree will increase everyone’s happiness as a whole. Therefore the way in which we come to the conclusion, at least in my mind, can be far more important than the value itself.