Kym Farrand is an Australian philosopher who has had published in books and journal papers a theory concerning a rationally-unquestionable foundation for values - moral, social, political, legal, epistemic, educational and all other values. This work is best developed in 3 recent (2022) free open access journal papers easily available via PhilPapers.org or Academia.edu. This work is partly a development from and re-interpretation of one of Farrand’s books, "Morally and Otherwise Right Lives" (American University Press) and the work of Griffiths, A.P., e.g., ‘Justifying Moral Principles’, in "Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society", (New series. Vol. 58, (1957-8).
The following outlines the main points in one of Farrand’s papers, ‘Rationality-Required Values’:
‘Rationality’ here only concerns knowledge, e.g., ways to acquire scientific knowledge. Many factors are required for human rationality to exist and develop, e.g., life, society and evidence-based thinking. Rationality’s need for those factors, hence their value to rationality, is rationally-unquestionable. Those factors require certain moral, political, social, legal, health-care etc values to be practised. This implies a pro-rationality values-theory, with one obligatory, general end – a uniquely rationally-unquestionable end. That theory has deeply-humanly-meaningful, universal applications: the theory has implications for current and all possible moral, political etc issues, and for all aspects of human life. The theory’s sub-values prescribe much prescribed by some other theories, e.g., positive emotions, caring for others, non-sexism, non-racism, types of liberty, happiness, peace, altruism and fairness. However, other theories lack pro-rationality theory’s maximum possible rational-unquestionability, internal coherence and coherence with rationality. The theory encourages freedom in a-rationality areas – areas irrelevant to its obligatory end. The theory inherently requires its advocates to be (self )critical, rationally viewing their human-suggested specifics as often fallible or unavoidably approximate. The theory is a work-in-progress.
Kym Farrand is retired, previously having qualified as a psychologist, been a school teacher, and studied, taught/researched philosophy at the University of Adelaide and Flinders University in South Australia. Kym has 4 children and 13 grandchildren.