10. Integrative Values ↑

4. Ground Our Values in Reality

A civilization that has lost confidence in the reality of its own values cannot coordinate around anything but power and preference. We believe that values are not arbitrary and that goodness exists — that flourishing and suffering, justice and exploitation, beauty and degradation are real features of the world, not merely cultural preferences or subjective opinions. This holds for people, for society, and for the entire web of life. Values are not static commandments but emergent, dynamic, and discoverable — and all the more binding for that. We commit to making our judgments of goodness transparent rather than concealing them behind claims of neutrality.