3/ Conclusion: A Third Way?
We have asked where the value of a thing might truly reside: within the thing itself, as objectivism asserts, or within the subject who bestows it, as subjectivism suggests.
Both propositions seem inadequate. Objectivism and axiological subjectivism alike appear unworkable: either because we cannot assign value to the object or because we cannot locate it there. Confronted with these two impasses, we may find ourselves at a loss as to how to proceed.
We must ask, however, whether our failure stems from having framed the problem too narrowly. Put differently, we have approached the issue as though only two possible answers exist—either the object or the subject—but might we conceive of a third? Are we not unduly constrained by the subject-object dualism that has shaped Western thought since Descartes and that many modern and contemporary thinkers have sought to overcome?
The idea that emerges—and that I put forward for consideration—is this: perhaps we should seek value not in the object or the subject alone, but in the relationship between them—specifically, in the unique bond that unites object and subject within the realm of value: love.
The questions we now pose—and which will shape the next stage of our reflection—are these: 'Is love the central concept of axiology?' and 'Is love the key to determining the value of a thing?'
We will then move into the affirmative, constructive phase of our reflection, our focus having hitherto been primarily negative: identifying the confusions that have arisen and obscured the proper formulation of the problem of values.