Axiology ("Axizeiology"?)

18 January 2022: fixed a typo.

When thinking about ought, what makes ought ought? When we ask what makes being be what it is, we are talking about "ontology". And I think that ought must have an ontology, or be connected to that somehow. I have tended to think that it must be "made of" consciousness, or be conscious, according to the consciousness monism that makes the most sense to me.

However, what really makes ought ought is its deservingness. That a law is valid is not just that it has ontological status (it's "on the books"), but that in some way it is worthy. The worthiness of the law is according to "axiology", from the Greek for "worthy".

Which comes first, ontology or axiology? Probably they have to go together and in a sense are one and the same thing. A dimension of being is deservingness, and deservingness is. What is deserves to be, according to its axiology.

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The meaning of "axiology" that I first encountered (and I think is more common) is "a ranking of things according to worth" not "that which makes something worthy". So maybe it would be good to have a separate term for "that which makes something worthy", the analog to "ontology". Maybe the word could be "axizeiology", from the modern Greek for "deservingness". Generally I don't think want to coin new words, but I can see how this might be helpful.