Beyond The Fact-Value Dichotomy

The fact-value distinction is an unsolved problem of vast proportions in philosophy. Hilary Putnam made a well known effort to address it, in Beyond the Fact-Value Dichotomy. With my own attempt being read about as much as Putnam's at the moment, here is a summary of my "stab" at a solution: Solving the Fact-Value Dichotomy:

There are no facts in this world, as is supposed, only relations. Therefore there has been what is called a category mistake. Look at the things around you: they are all related to each other in a certain way, in space and in time. And then there are relations within relations, within relations. Sometimes things are related with one another as they ought to be -- that's when we say that it's a fact. And sometimes things are related with one another as they ought not to be -- that's when we talk about value. Now this insight may be applied both to the natural and the human sciences, and it serves to reconcile them. At the same time, the so-called postmodern condition, at least in theory, is solved.

NOTE: The original essay, which was popular, went down with the demise of the publication PI Alpha (since re-launched). The substance of it is now included in my Metaphysical Notes, published by the Philosophical Society of England.