Principles

Definition

The Principles layer asks: would this hold for everyone in the same situation? It decides for anyone who would stand in the same place — including people the decider does not know, and who will bring them nothing. The motivation is principles a person has chosen and can defend: fairness, a free agreement, human rights, the precedence of life over property. A principle differs from a rule by its origin, not by being higher: a rule is given, a principle is one I have taken as my own — and when the two part ways, I go with the principle.

Strengths

• It sees past the horizon of its own situation: it can stand up for someone it does not know, and who will bring it nothing.
• It gives decisions a consistency — the same measure for yourself and for other people.
• It is an engine of reform: a principle can name what a rule does not know yet — and when a rule takes it up, it becomes Order.

Limits

• A principle can be cold: in the name of fairness for everyone, the person standing in front of you can be overlooked.
• It does not yield: where two principles collide, a stalemate with no feel for the context is a real risk.
• It slips easily into lecturing — "I am right, because I have principles."

Typical phrases

"Either this holds for everyone, or it doesn't hold at all."

"We agreed to that freely."

"A life is worth more than property."

Examples from areas of life

Partnership

We will get married because both of us freely decided to — and I would grant the same right to anyone.

Work

I'll admit the mistake, because transparency is the basis of trust — and trust is fair only when it runs both ways.

Parenting

I don't want obedience. I want understanding: I explain why, and a rule I cannot defend, I drop.

Business

I'll make the change, but fairly: severance, retraining, time to make the transition. Change, yes. At the expense of people, no.

Politics

I defend freedom of speech even for opinions that outrage me. Otherwise it is not a principle. It is convenience.

Common mistakes

• "Principles are just cleverer rules." The difference is the origin: a rule is given from outside, a principle is one you chose and can defend.
• "A person with principles is always the more moral one." Principles with no feel for the particular person can do harm — the layers need one another.
• "A high Principles score means idealism cut off from reality." It rather means that consistency and fairness are your main measure.