Intrinsic value at Higher Level: Some things are protected not for what they do but for what they are. This page explains intrinsic value for landscapes and for living things, and its strengths and limits as a reason to protect nature.
Practise this as you read
- Define intrinsic value.
- Outline why a named landscape or species may have intrinsic value.
- Suggest how intrinsic value could limit the clearing of a habitat.
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Valued for what it is: Intrinsic value is the value we may attach to something simply for what it is, whether or not it is any use to us. It is the idea behind biorights and deep ecology.
What intrinsic value is
- Intrinsic value is the value something has simply for what it is.
- It is valued for its own sake, not for its use to people.
- So it is worth protecting even with no benefit to anyone: every species has a right to exist.
- It is the basis of ecocentric thinking, deep ecology and the preservation of nature.
- It is hard to measure or put a money figure on.
Intrinsic value
- Valued for what it is
- Every species has a right to exist
- Supports preservation and deep ecology
- Hard to measure or put a price on
Instrumental value
- Valued for its use to people
- Goods, services, human development
- Supports conservation for human benefit
- Often easier to price
Real example: in 1994 a park ranger found the Wollemi pine, a living fossil, in a canyon near Sydney. Fewer than 100 adult trees grow in the wild. In the 2019-20 bushfires, firefighters were flown in to water the grove and saved it. No one earns money from these trees: they were saved for what they are.
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The guide gives three reasons a non-living thing, such as a landscape, may have intrinsic value.
Landscapes: wild, sacred, beautiful
- Non-living things, such as landscapes, can have intrinsic value.
- Because they are wild: untouched by people.
- Because they are culturally significant: sacred, or part of a people's identity.
- Because they are beautiful: valued for how they look, not for what they give.
Wild: Antarctica
- A 1991 protocol protects its 'wilderness and aesthetic values'.
- Mining there is banned.
Sacred: Uluru
- A 348 m sandstone monolith, sacred to its Aboriginal owners.
- Climbing it was banned from 26 October 2019.
Beautiful: Yosemite
- Granite cliffs and waterfalls in California, USA.
- Protected by law in 1864, largely for its beauty.
Real example: for the Anangu, Uluru holds Tjukurpa. In 2017 the park board voted to end the climb, and since 2019 visitors may walk around the rock but not on it. The rock is valued for what it is to its owners, not for what it earns.
Remember it as: Wild, sacred or beautiful: valued just for being there.
The guide gives a different reason for living things: they are, in a way, like us.
Living organisms
- Living organisms, like humans, have parts, processes and behaviours.
- These are organized to achieve survival and reproduction.
- So each organism has its own good: things go well or badly for it.
- Therefore we should respect its ongoing existence and well-being.
- This applies to every organism, useful or not: a fungus as much as a panda.
Parts
A kakapo has strong legs for climbing, a sharp sense of smell and feathers coloured like moss.
Processes
It breeds only in years when rimu trees fruit heavily, so its chicks have food.
Behaviours
Males boom from hilltop bowls at night to call females from kilometres away.
So: respect it
All of this is organized for its survival, so it has its own good to respect.
Real example: the kakapo, a heavy, night-active parrot that cannot fly, is found only in New Zealand. Only 51 were known in 1995. Rangers now name and track every bird, and there are about 250. The philosopher Paul Taylor (1986) argued that every organism's parts are organized towards its own survival, so each deserves respect.
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Intrinsic value gives a different reason to protect nature from usefulness, with its own strengths and limits.
Intrinsic value as an argument
- It protects species and places with no known use.
- It does not depend on markets, prices or substitutes.
- It treats all species equally, so even unappealing ones count.
- But it is hard to measure, so it is hard to weigh against jobs or food.
- If everything has intrinsic value, it gives little help in deciding what comes first.
- Beauty and cultural meaning are judged differently by different people.
Do not slip into usefulness: 'Kakapo bring in tourists' or 'Antarctica is useful for science' are instrumental. An intrinsic reason never names a benefit to people: it is wild, it is sacred, it is beautiful, it has a right to exist.
How this comes up: In May 2026 a Paper 1 part asked for an intrinsic value of an endangered deer: credited answers were a native species, its right to exist, being wild or beautiful, cultural importance, and its role in the ecosystem. Expect Outline [2] to [4] parts, and lens questions on whether intrinsic value should limit development.
Uluru, in Australia's Northern Territory, is a huge sandstone rock rising 348 m above the desert. Since 2019 visitors may no longer climb it.
Outline reasons why Uluru may be considered to have intrinsic value.
Model answer plan
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Check each paragraph: if it names a benefit to people, it is instrumental, not intrinsic.