In your first paragraph, you agree with me that it isn't a value judgement, but then in your second paragraph, you go back to claiming that it is the foundation of his position. I think it is mainly a response to claims that uploads will be miserable. I think his position is that we should not care about whether the uploads value their lives, but whether we, today, value their lives; but he thinks that moral rhetoric does not well match the speaker's values. cf