Abstract

The metaphor of weight runs deep in the theory of value and rationality. Under the weight of the metaphor, we are inclined to think that, like weights, reasons and values should add up. But additivity can become a fetish. I have spent a good chunk of the last forty years in the grip of this fetish. Like many fetishes, this one may serve a purpose, but it can easily become boring, pointless and even self-defeating. I chronicle my journey of release from the fetish and my slow embrace of the value of unified complexity.