SYMBOLS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF VALUES: KENNETH BURKE AND (RE)VALUATION

Abstract

I argue that a theory of symbolic value formation is implicit in the writings of Kenneth Burke. I analyze ten of Burke's major writings and use what Burke refers to as the ten key terms of moral and aesthetic valuation as the means to ascertain what this theory is. I then outline the process of how individuals and social orders imbue people, ideas and things with value via symbol systems and how those values are altered over time based on interactions with the social and physical world. The work highlights people's desire for stable value systems along with how unstable those systems actually are.