The primary aim of the ontology of moral values is to answer this fundamental question: Are moral values objective truths independent of human beings, or are they a social construct arising from human preferences, tastes, and mutual agreements?
This article explores the perspective of the scholar Taqi Mohammad Taqi al-Misbah al-Yazdi, and compares it with the ideas of John Dewey, employing a descriptive-analytical approach. The article concludes that for both thinkers, ethical value is akin to a comparative measure "the causal relationship between human voluntary actions and the ideal of ethical perfection". It is both subjective and objective, and does not merely depend on individual or societal tastes and desires. While the scholar al-Misbah offers a realistic ethical perspective, John Dewey presents a non-realistic, idealistic one. Consequently, post-ethical and epistemological values are relative. This divergence in thought stems from foundational epistemological differences regarding the nature of ethical truth, the relativity of ethical values, and the general criterion for ethical value, the collective good and realism in the view of the scholar al-Misbah, versus the integration of Darwinian thought in John Dewey’s perspective.
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