The Competition Account of Achievement‐Value

Abstract

A great achievement makes one's life go better independently of its results, but what makes an achievement great? A simple answer is—its difficulty. I defend this view against recent, pressing objections by interpreting difficulty in terms of competitiveness. Difficulty is determined not by how hard the agent worked for the end but by how hard others would need to do in order to compete. Successfully reaching a goal is a valuable achievement because it is difficult, and it is difficult because it is competitive. Hence, both virtuosic performances and lucky successes can be valuable achievements.

Los contenidos digitales y el problema de la excelencia en la cultura neoliberal

“…Dicho estándar de autoridad deja identificar lo que Kauppinen (2017) denomina "logros merecedores de alabanza". La literatura filosófica suele considerar la dificultad -entendida de distintas formas-, como una de las condiciones que define los logros y los separan de actividades mundanas (Bradford, 2015;Dunkle, 2019;Hirji, 2019;Kauppinen, 2017;Keller, 2004), lo que permite establecer una diferencia entre escalar el Everest y atarse los cordones de los zapatos. Por ejemplo, para Bradford (2015), un logro puede definirse como un proceso difícil que causa un producto de forma competente (sea este ejecutar una pieza en el piano, subir una montaña o robar un banco), mientras que para Kauppinen (2017), los logros requieren, primero, de un reto, expresado como un esfuerzo intenso o una gran habilidad y, segundo, de una competencia o destreza manifiesta que impide que el logro sea producto de la suerte.…”

The Nature of Achievement: The Comparative Value Approach

“…The first issue is which domains are achievement-relevant, and why those domains are relevant. In the literature of achievements, the creation of great artworks (Bradford 2013, 206;Dunkle 2019Dunkle , 1018Hirji 2019, 543) and the discovery of historical treasures (Bradford 2015, 14;Dunkle 2019Dunkle , 1018 are typical examples of achievements. Considering that these products or the activities to achieve the products are valuable in the domains of art or historical research, it is reasonable to assume that art and historical research are achievement-relevant domains.…”

The comparative achievement explanation of artistic value

“…Thus, the explanatory power of the individualist achievement explanation is inadequate. 8 I propose an alternative and more powerful achievement explanation, which employs an alternative model of achievement I have developed elsewhere (Dunkle 2019). This model of achievement centers on interpersonal comparisons rather than direct assessments of individuals' efforts, and it dispenses with the factor of competence altogether.…”