This chapter examines Hume's comparison of values with secondary qualities. It is shown that Hume's account of secondary qualities and the comparison should be viewed against a French understanding of secondary qualities. It is not, as it is commonly assumed, a mistaken view of Locke. In the light of this, the point of the comparison is shown to lie in the attempt to understand the pre-theoretical view of values as properties thoroughly independent of human responses.
Keywords: gilding, staining, value, Locke