Modelling Value Change: An Exploratory Approach

T.E. de Wildt, I.R. van de Poel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
127 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Value and moral change have increasingly become topics of interest in the philosophical literature. Several theoretical accounts have been proposed. These are usually based on certain theoretical and conceptual assumptions. Their strengths and weaknesses are often difficult to determine and compare because they are based on limited empirical evidence. We propose agent-based modeling to build simulation models that can theoretically help us explore accounts of value change. We can investigate whether a simulation model based on a specific account of value change can reproduce relevant phenomena. To illustrate this approach, we build a model based on the pragmatist account of value change proposed by Van De Poel and Kudina (2022). We show that this model can reproduce four relevant phenomena, namely 1) the inevitability and stability of values, 2) societies differ in openness and resistance to change, 3) moral revolutions, and 4) lock-in. This makes this account promising, although more research is needed to see how well it can explain other relevant phenomena and compare its strengths and weaknesses to other accounts. On a more methodological level, our contribution suggests that simulation models might be useful to theoretically explore accounts of value change and make further progress in this area.
Original languageEnglish
Article number3
JournalJournal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Value Change
  • Moral Change
  • Agent-Based Modelling
  • Exploratory Modelling

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