Decisions among incommensurable values remain possible without a decision rule.

Evidence

I did not wish to maintain that, even as to the conflicts within modalities, the decider had to consult some parameter to make a decision; I argue only that the parameter can be derived. So the lack of a parallel parameter when the modalities conflict tells us something about the kind of decision being made-that it is among incommensurables-but nothing about whether a decision is possible or not. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 426

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the distinction between deriving a decision parameter and consulting one — the crux of the incommensurability point.
• XREF: connects to: Rights and obligations can bind genuinely without being absolute. — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 139; I did not wish to maintain that, even as to the conflicts within modalities, the decider had to consult some parameter to make a decision; I argue only that the parameter can be derived. So the lack of a parallel parameter when the modalities conflict tells us something about the kind of decision being made-that it is among incommensurables-but nothing about whether a decision is possible or not.; Value systems are generally incommunicable except in special cases — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 279

Broader Connections

• I did not wish to maintain that, even as to the conflicts within modalities, the decider had to consult some parameter to make a decision; I argue only that the parameter can be derived. So the… #corroborates (0.90)