The fundamental principle, which functions as an axiom, and can be stated in symbolic logic, is that a thing is good insofar as it exemplifies its concept.
To put it another way, "a thing is good if it has all its descriptive properties."
(In the case where the number of properties is countably infinite, the extrinsic dimension of value, the exposition as well as the mere definition of a specific concept is taken into consideration.)
Hartman claims that according to a theorem of transfinite mathematics, any collection of material objects is at most denumerably infinite.
But, according to Hartman, people are capable of a denumerably infinite set of predicates, intended in as many ways, which he gives as
Although they play no role in ordinary mathematics, Hartman deploys the notion of aleph number reciprocals, as a sort of infinitesimal proportion.
In Hartman's calculus, for example, the assurance in a Dear John letter, that "we will always be friends" has axiological value
, whereas taking a metaphor literally would be slightly preferable, the reification having a value of