VitalAccurateThinking

Ethical and Non-Ethical Prescriptives

DT Strain Philosophy Blog: Prescriptive Songs

My friend Daniel Strain is a very philosophical fellow. He has a lot of great things to say about morals, ethics and religion. He posted this post with these definitions:

(1) Ethical Prescriptives: These are instructions on how a child should behave, and are of an ethical nature. They deal with matters of morality, virtue, ethics, honor, integrity, kindness, and so on.

(2) Non-Ethical Prescriptives: These are instructions on how the child should act, behave, or carry out life, but they are not ethical. This means they may simply be meant as good advice, or strategic manners of living.

(3) Hopes for good fortune: These are simply lines which express hopes for good fortune for the child, usually in the form of access to opportunity, health, good relationships, or material wellbeing.

My comment is this: I am wondering if the ethical and non-ethical prescriptives are essentially overlaps of the same concept. Acting ethically and morally lead to a more effective life in all phases. The opposite is also demostratively true. In fact, I submit that it is life effectiveness which is the standard by which ethics is measured. In this sense, ethics really are natural laws that must be followed to lead an effective life. The extent to which you are aligned with natural, ethical laws is the extent to which you are strategically effective in life.

For example, if telling the truth is an ethical prescriptive, then I would argue that the reason you want to be truthful is to be worthy of trust and be more effective with people. So it is both an ethical prescriptive and an effectiveness strategy.

This is the crux of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a moral framework and a effectiveness framework. To me, both are inseparable.

posted by Jim VAT @ 5:12 PM