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This book is an analytically oriented investigation into the problems of value theory and ethics. It develops a conceptual systematization of the notions of value, taking the concept of merit, explicated in terms of the degree to which something meets some requirements as basic. The origin of value is identified as the source of these requirements. Being completely general in its scope, the analysis offers a consistent picture of the field, where ethics is introduced by understanding its central concerns as related to the goodness of the world. A fresh approach to questions such as the relevance of arguments for value judgements, the relation between facts and values and the place of happiness in ethics is presented.