ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that justifying a conception of a value is different from justifying an action-guiding principle. It discusses two of the values: fairness and efficiency. With respect to the goods to which the quantitative sense of efficiency might be applied, some are more easily analyzed as quantities of discrete units than others. Efficiency is a value distinct from fairness. What is more, just as considerations of efficiency are external to fairness, so too are considerations of fairness external to efficiency. As a result, if maximizing the average amount of utility runs afoul of the above-mentioned disability objection, then it makes sense to say that it has unfair implications. To get a handle on what offering a conception of a fundamental value involves, it will be helpful to contrast it with a similar, though importantly different, process: reflective equilibrium. The chapter also sets the stage for subsequent chapters.
