value, but not any absolute intrinsic value. He held that across all contexts, goodness is best understood as instrumental value, with no contrasting intrinsic goodness. In other words, Dewey claimed that anything can only be of intrinsic value if it is a contributory good. Positive and negative There may be both positive and negative value regarding intrinsic value, wherein something of positive intrinsic value is pursued or maximized, while something of negative intrinsic value is avoided or minimized. For instance, in utilitarianism, pleasure has positive intrinsic value and suffering has negative intrinsic value. Similar concepts Intrinsic value is mainly used in ethics, but the concept is also used in philosophy, with terms that essentially may refer to the same concept. As "ultimate importance" it is what a sentient being relates to in order to constitute a life stance. It is synonymous with the meaning of life, as this may be expressed as what is meaningful or valuable in life. However, meaning of life is more vague, with other uses as well. Summum bonum is basically its equivalent in medieval philosophy. The relative intrinsic value is roughly synonymous with the ethic ideal. Inherent value may be regarded as a first grade instrumental value when personal experience is the intrinsic value. See also Animal ethics Autotelic Extrinsic value (ethics) Ophelimity Value system Value theory References External links Discussion of different types of values Concepts in ethics Axiological theories Value (ethics)