Reasonable Commitments and Transformative Experience of Value

To undergo a transformative experience of value is to come to value someone or something, the value of which one could not have grasped prior to the experience. If we suppose that at least some such commitments are reasonably formed, then we can have good reason to value what we do, in spite of inarticulacy about what these reasons are. Value commitments of this kind are common, but wildly underappreciated in both moral and political philosophy. I aim to develop, defend, and explore some implications of an account of the grounds for normative commitment that vindicates the central role that inarticulable experiences of value can play in them. I am particularly interested in the apparent limits that transformative experiences place on possible interpersonal justification in both personal and political contexts, and in related lessons for the communication of values in moral education.