Synaesthetic Normativity

Abstract

Values regulate and determine normative orders. According to a widespread assumption, values arise for their parts solely within the borders of the specific normative order (aesthetics, science, ethics, law etc.) they are intended for. The article challenges this view, arguing that aesthetic, epistemic and moral (legal, political) values are correlated because of a common underlying mechanism. The »synaesthesia of values« facilitates a constant exchange of principles and concepts between apparently distinct normative spheres.