This paper proposes a method for understanding the relationships among the various value systems that underlie administrative thinking. The system takes into account the psychological faculties affecting ethical decisions, the philosophical orientations involved, and distinctions between the concepts of "right" and "good." The paper opens with comments on the increasing concern over the character of the values currently underlying administrative practice. The paper then reviews the importance of using language clearly, distinguishing between the associations and assumptions attached to the language used to describe things and events, on one hand, and the actual nature of the things and events described, on the other. The paper makes its central proposal next, differentiating among value systems based in religion, existentialism, pragmatism, humanism, positivism, hedonism, and other belief systems; and among these systems' bases in the will, in reasoning or thinking, and in emotion. The paper then examines the roles of free will and determinism in these value systems, asserting that some degree of choice is available to administrators and that this choice should be exercised in the form of voluntary commitment to a value system. Noting that education is intrinsically philosophical, the paper asserts that society cannot be content with antiphilosophical educators. (PGD)