other imperative:Once propositions have been instituted, thou shalt no
longer debate their legitimate presence within collective life.
The formula may appear strange, but it will become clearer in a mo-
ment, once we have dissected the concept of value in its turn. In any
case, we already understand why the packet of facts was so badly tied
up: under a single wrapper it concealed two entirely different opera-
tions, one that got the discussion started and another that brought dis-
cussion to an end! It is not surprising that no one has ever understood
very well what the expert meant when, in the name of “stubborn
facts,” he pounded his fist on the table: his gesture could signify per-
plexity as well as certainty, the disputable as well as the indisputable,
the obligation to do more research as well as the obligation to stop do-
ing research! Insofar as the first operation aims to multiply the num-
ber of entities to be taken into account, by maximizing the perplexity
of the agents that are dealing with them, to the same extent the second
aims to ensure a maximum of durability, solidity, harmony, coherence,
and certainty to the assembled propositions, precisely by preventing
people from splitting hairs all the time and plunging the debates back
into confusion. Such was the miserable ploy of the Cave: as the same
word “fact” could designate the weakest and the strongest, the most
debatable and the least debatable, external reality in its emergence and
external reality in its institution, matters of concern as well as matters
of fact, it sufficed to combine the two terms, to jump abruptly from
one to the other, in order to short-circuit all procedures and put an
end to public life through the threat of a mouth-shutting reality.
The Two Contradictory Requirements Captured
in the Notion of ValueLet us now undo the ties that bound together the contradictory re-
quirements that were held captive in the concept of value. What do we
mean, finally, when we assert that discussion about values has to con-
tinue, even after the facts have been defined? What do we seek to cap-
ture by the awkward expression “ought to be” that would add to “what
is” its supplement of soul? What essential necessity are we struggling
so confusedly to express?
By the appeal to values, we mean first of all that other propositions
have not been taken into account, other entities have not been con-
A NEW SEPARATION OF POWERS
105