Prescriptivity
Encyclopedia
Prescriptivity is a term used in meta-ethics
to state that when an evaluative judgment or decision is made it must either prescribe or condemn. The word infers that these judgments (and resultantly the prescription and condemnation) logically commit us to certain ways of living. Contrary to popular opinion prescriptivity does not just describe or categorize decisions for example; "You ought to do this" (used evaluatively) logically entails the imperative "Do this."
. When combined with Universalizability, prescriptivity becomes Universal prescriptivism
. Universal precriptivism combines these two methods of thinking, combining evaluative judgments (which commit us to making similar judgments about similar cases) and precription and condemnation when the judgment is at last made. This enables us to think in a very powerful and rational
way about ethical and moral issues.
Meta-ethics
In philosophy, meta-ethics is the branch of ethics that seeks to understand the nature of ethical properties, statements, attitudes, and judgments. Meta-ethics is one of the three branches of ethics generally recognized by philosophers, the others being normative ethics and applied ethics. Ethical...
to state that when an evaluative judgment or decision is made it must either prescribe or condemn. The word infers that these judgments (and resultantly the prescription and condemnation) logically commit us to certain ways of living. Contrary to popular opinion prescriptivity does not just describe or categorize decisions for example; "You ought to do this" (used evaluatively) logically entails the imperative "Do this."
Universal Prescriptivism
Prescriptivity is one of the five (prescriptivity, universalizability, overridingness, publicity, and practicability) axioms of Formal EthicsEthics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
. When combined with Universalizability, prescriptivity becomes Universal prescriptivism
Universal prescriptivism
Universal prescriptivism is the meta-ethical view which claims that, rather than expressing propositions, ethical sentences function similarly to imperatives which are universalizable — whoever makes a moral judgment is committed to the same judgment in any situation where the same relevant facts...
. Universal precriptivism combines these two methods of thinking, combining evaluative judgments (which commit us to making similar judgments about similar cases) and precription and condemnation when the judgment is at last made. This enables us to think in a very powerful and rational
Rationality
In philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...
way about ethical and moral issues.