My position here is roughly that all 'moral' values are instrumental in this sense. They are ways of coordinating so that people don't step on each other's toes.
Not sure I completely believe that, but it is the theory I am trying on at the moment. :)
Right - but there are surely also ultimate values.
Those are the ones that are expected to be resistant to change.
It can't be instrumental values all the way down.
I just had a long conversation with my brother, a devout Christian. With my help he has outlined the following argument why it might be good for me to follow Christian deontology:
What do you think?