The Power Of Moral Principles

How To Command Respect, Transform Your Life, And Overcome Moral Anxiety

One of the best ways to radically transform your life and gain the respect of everyone who knows you, is to live a principled life.

Principled human beings are becoming increasingly rare as humanity hurls itself towards a post-modern, post-capitalist, post-postal service, post-everything world.

Think about how many people you actually know who not only know what their core values are, but also live and act in accordance with them.

If you need more than one hand to count them, consider yourself lucky.

Becoming a principled human being will set you apart from 99% of people, and earn the respect and admiration of everyone who knows you.

It will also make you respect yourself.

Self-respect requires a self to respect.

What is a self without any principles or foundations to hold it together?

Principles give a definite shape to your character. They give you a moral foundation to stand on and identify with.

They are part of what make you who you are.

Without principles, we are prone to chaos, vagueness, and moral/social anxiety.

Becoming a principled human being is not an easy thing to do.

In theory, everyone wants to live a principled life.

Everyone wants to be in control of their own destiny, actions, and aims.

Even the free-spirited artist wants to live a life following the principle that there are no principles, or no rules, or no limits to their creative expression.

In practice, most people don't have any idea what their principles are, and they make things up as they go along.

This is not surprising.

We live in a world where the foundations of objectivity and certainty have eroded, leaving us completely untethered from reality, other people, and even ourselves. We are left floating through empty space, unsure of where we are going and why.

We yearn for the feeling of solid rock.

The feeling of earth on our hands and under our feet.

The feeling of being connected to our self, the world, and others.

Weight.

If you want to remember what it feels like to be weighed down and grounded to something stable and meaningful, you need to construct moral principles for yourself to not only stand on, but stand for.

Make them your own.

Even if you are inspired by a pre-existing moral code or system of beliefs, you still need to work to fit them into your micro-philosophy and life-circumstances.

I am not telling you to adopt a particular worldview. I am not telling you what to think. I am urging you to think for yourself about who you want to be, what you want to live for.

In the context of a micro-philosophy, and your lived moral experience, principles serve a vital role.

Principles bridge the gap between your most deeply held values and concrete situations. They give structure to your practical identity, and purpose to your actions, emotions, and pursuits.

The Greek philosopher Socrates preferred to face execution rather than betray his moral principles.

He died cheerfully.

What Are Principles?

The basic concept of a principle has many different meanings and is used in a wide variety of contexts.

In general, principles represent fundamental truths that serve as the foundation for systems of belief, chains of reasoning, or decision-making processes. They are the pillars of our most cherished theories, and the guides to our moral life.

Principles serve many important functions.

Most importantly, they are lenses or guides for our thinking and decision-making.

Principles help individuals or groups navigate decisions, solve problems, and maintain consistency across different situations.

Principles can also be used to explain or justify a chain of reasoning, or a specific behavior.

If someone challenge you to explain why you lied to your friend, you can use a principle to justify your decision. It is also likely that you used some kind of principle to arrive at the decision in the first place.

In other words, they are not time-sensitive. They can be used before and after we act to either justify, or explain.

The power of principles lies in their unique ability to serve this dual function.

Principles are also unifiers.

They are lenses that focus a diversity of information, and bring order to the chaotic world of experience.

Whether it is in Physics, or Ethics, principles are what bind a multitude of things together.

For example, in Geometry, principles allow us to talk about abstract reality in a systematic way, and construct theorems, proofs, and demonstrations. In Physics, principles organize and explain nature, as well as lay down the laws for physical phenomena. In Ethics, moral principles justify, unify, and guide our practical lives, giving our decisions have a consistency that they would otherwise lack.

In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle founded the discipline of Logic on the ultimate principle of human reasoning — The Principle of Non-Contradiction.

Aristotle wrote:

"It is impossible for the same thing to belong and not to belong at the same time to the same thing and in the same respect".

In other words, it is not possible for "A" to be true and "Not-A" to be true at the same time and in the same way.

Principles are fundamental or foundational.

They ground and structure reality.

Principles, Rules, and Values

Sometimes principles can seem very similar to rules and values, but they are distinct.

It is important to understand the differences between these concepts when building a micro-philosophy.

Each concept will serve its role in helping your micro-philosophy function properly.

While these concepts can often be used interchangeably, a lot can be learned from thinking about them more precisely.

Let's look at rules, and then consider values.

Rules

"A rule is a rule".

Everyone has said this at some point in their life. But what does it mean?

The basic idea that that rules are rigid.

Even though rules can have exceptions built into them, very often they do not.

When the exceptions to rules have not been specified and someone tries to argue that the rule should bend for their special circumstances, someone else might decide that the rule does not admit of an exception and must be followed. After all, if it allowed for an exception, then it would have been specified as part of the rule before a special circumstance arose.

Rules are applicable in an all-or-nothing, black-and-white, fashion.

If a rule exists and the facts of a situation fit the stipulations of the rule, then it gives a clear answer about what is and is not allowed.

Over time, rules acquire exception clauses and become more specific, but this does not change their absolute character. Even in a situation that is an exception, it is either met or it is not. If it is unclear, then the rule is incomplete.

A complete rule would be a rule that precisely outlines all of the possible facts or circumstances that could arise and gives a clear answer for each.

This is the main way in which rules differ from principles.

Principles do not try to provide specific and sharp conditions for application.

Instead, they are inherently general and flexible.

While a rule becomes more complete as we specify all of the possible situations and exceptions in which it does and does not apply, a principle works differently.

Principles provide reasons or justifications in support of acting or thinking a certain way, but do not tell us specifically how to act or think.

Since principles are general, this is not surprising.

The more specific something gets, the less general it is, and the fewer situations it can apply to.

Rules are meant to be specific guides to action.

They are meant to help us navigate special situations or circumstances, such as how to play a board game, or how to act in church. Rules are concrete and specify the conditions in which something can or cannot be done, should or should not be done.

What about universal rules? Are those specific?

Some rules are universal, like "thou shall not kill".

Although this is universal, it is still specific in a way. It is saying there is a specific action that you must never do, and the context doesn't matter.

This rule just says that, in every situation, no matter what, don't kill.

This is a kind of absolute rule.

Why is this not a principle?

Because it is a kind of command — a command, from God, not to do something.

Principles cannot be given to us from commands.

A principle might say, "Killing is wrong".

This principle might even be found in religious texts. But it does not make sense to say that "Killing is wrong" is a command. The principle doesn't directly tell you what to do or not do. Here's why:

You can believe the moral principle that "Killing is wrong", but still decide that in a certain situation, it is justified to kill someone. The belief that killing is wrong does not automatically mean that there is a rule to never kill. That requires an extra rule, such as never do what is wrong.

Principles can be used to guide our moral decision making by being a part of an argument or chain of reasoning that justifies not doing a certain action.

For example, consider this simple chain of reasoning:

1. Principle: Killing is wrong

2. Fact: If I pull the trigger, I will kill the man.

3. Rule/Core Belief: Never do anything wrong.

4. Conclusion: Don't shoot.

Since principles provide reasons in favor of doing or not doing something, they also have what is called normative weight. Let's just call it weight or importance.

Rules, meanwhile, do not have weight or importance by themselves. Breaking a rule might have significant external consequences, like breaking a precedent, but that is outside of the rule itself.

Rules get their weight from principles and external factors.

A rule may be important, but that is only because there is a principle behind the rule that makes it important.

It is reasonable to view rules are derivative or dependent upon principles.

Principles often provide the explanation or justification for rules.

No one (except really annoying people just follows rules for no reason). There has to be something behind rules that makes them worth following.

When two rules conflict, we do not resolve the conflict by weighing the rules against each other, we resolve it by specifying the rules or changing them in accordance with our principles or other beliefs.

When two rules conflict, it is not a conflict of two valid considerations weighing against each other. That is not how rules work. They cannot both be valid.

Think about Monopoly.

Suppose you were bought a knock-off version of Monopoly on Ebay, called Philopoly. It is the exact same game as Monopoly, but there is one extra line added in the rulebook that contradicts another rule in the game.

In these situations, you can't weigh the rules against each other and reach a decision, you have to either change one of the rules, or discard one. Both rules cannot be valid.

How do we decide?

Very often, we appeal to principles.

For example:

1. Player one might have a principle such as "the purpose of a board game is to have fun.

2. Player two might have a principle such as "the purpose of a board game is to preserve competitive integrity".

The next step is to debate these principles in light of the player's common aims.

Principles can come into conflict and still maintain their valid weight.

Both rules and principles are standards that guide us, but they differ in how they function in our moral and practical reasoning.

Let's move on to values.

Values

What are values, and how do they differ from principles?

Everyone on social media talks about the concept of "value", but what does it actually mean?

In general, the concept of value refers to the level of importance that something has.

(In case you missed it, I wrote an article titled “How To Discover Your Core Values”)

When someone "values" something, or has a "value", what is meant is that someone has a personal belief that certain things are important, unimportant, good, bad, etc.

Usually when people talk about social media content as having value, what they mean is that people find it valuable to their lives. It wouldn't really make sense for a post on X to have value if no one saw it.

In the context of a micro-philosophy, when we talk about finding and crafting your values, we are talking about finding out your beliefs about which things are valuable and which things are not valuable.

In other words, your personal values are beliefs about what has value and why.

There are hundreds of possible values that you can hold.

What role do values play in a micro-philosophy?

Values are what bring a micro-philosophy to life by giving it meaning and practical importance.

Without values, a micro-philosophy would just consist of statements about what the world is like, and say nothing about how we should live in it.

When you hold a value, you don’t just feel attached to it—you see it as a legitimate reason that can justify your actions, decisions, and worldview.

Holding to values is a way of either being your full self, or moving closer to who you ideally want to be.

Building and improving your own micro-philosophy is an excellent way to both clarify which values you hold and understand how they relate to one another.

Having these things clearly in mind helps focus your thoughts and actions towards your ultimate goals in life, making them much more attainable.

Principles are what allow you to actually act on your values.

Principles are the bridge between your ideals and reality, between values and action.

Without principles, it is not clear how to take something you value and put it into practice.

Values need principles because values are very general, but real life situations are incredibly specific. Principles make it possible to specify the ways in which a value applies to a situation, or can be realized. By themselves, values do not tell you specifically what to do.

Principles are developed on the basis of lived experience, often passed down from generation to generation through cultural and moral education. Principles reach up towards values, grasp them, and pull them back down to reality.

Principles are general enough to apply to a wide range of situations, but specific enough to guide actions.

Principles can also play a vital role in making values explicit — in fleshing out the details of what it means to hold a certain value.

Principles unpack our values and give them more concrete applicability and content, so that values can be more easily operationalized into policies and actions.

You should now have at least a general grasp on the subtle differences between principles, rules, and values.

Let’s now look at how principles fit into a micro-philosophy.

Moral Principles and Micro-Philosophy

What role do principles play in a micro-philosophy?

A micro-philosophy is a concise, coherent, and personalized framework of beliefs, values, and principles that guides an individual’s understanding of the world, their approach to life, and their specific actions.

It is your own mini worldview.

An interconnected web of beliefs, values, definitions, principles, and actions, all aimed at giving your life clarity, purpose, and structure.

A micro-philosophy combines 4 key elements into a unified system that gives clarity and purpose to our lives.

The 4 elements of a micro-philosophy are:

• Atomic Beliefs: Core convictions about the world.

• Values: Guiding ideals derived from core beliefs.

• Principles: The bridge between values and action.

• Actions: The real-world manifestation of principles.

While it is possible to have logical and metaphysical principles as part of one's micro-philosophy, the primary role of principles in a micro-philosophy is to connect values to actions.

That is why principles are located between these two elements above.

Instead of discussing metaphysical principles, or principles of psychology, the main type of principle I will discuss in the context of a micro-philosophy will be moral principles.

What are moral principles specifically?

Moral principles are a kind of principle that falls under the domain of Ethics — the branch of philosophy that concerns right and wrong action, and good and bad character.

Moral principles are very general ethical statements that help clarify the conditions under which an action or person is right or wrong, good or bad, virtuous or vicious.

For example, you might hold the moral principle that:

"An action is right only if it does not infringe upon anyone's rights"

This moral principle connects the concept of rights to concept of an action, and specifies a necessary requirement for any action being considered right.

Another example of a moral principle might be concerned not only with action, but character:

"A person is good only if they value wisdom"

This principle is about what makes people good, and specifies that a requirement on being a good person is valuing wisdom.

Both of these examples demonstrate one of the main ways that philosophers think about moral principles — as providing standards of evaluation for actions and people (the other main job of principles is to guide moral decision-making).

Moral Principles As Standards

Moral principles can set evaluative standards that explain what makes certain actions and behaviors right or wrong, good and bad.

Standards explain why certain facts in a real situation are important or unimportant, and help clarify why they matter to you (or someone else).

Moral principles can also explain why certain character traits, beliefs, or attitudes count as virtuous or vicious, good or bad.

Moral principles are followed not simply because they are useful, but because it is a moral requirement to uphold them (or at least try to!).

This is a helpful place to pause and to see how principles connect with values.

Why should you uphold a moral principle?

For most people, the answer is that they value Justice.

Justice supports moral principles by binding us to them, even if it would cost us greatly to do so.

Moral principles are special standards that are stronger than other kinds of standards, such as the standards of politeness.

Most people act polite because it helps society function more smoothly, they want people to like them, or it is just a habit. We follow our moral standards not for the benefits of doing so, but because they are the expression of our core values. They matter to us more than being polite.

Note: There are fascinating debates in an area of philosophy called meta-ethics about whether there even are any real moral standards, and whether we actually do have to follow them. I cannot get into these debates here, but I plan to in future newsletters. I am not defending the reality of moral standards here, but presenting ideas that are useful to living a moral life in the context of a micro-philosophy.

Moral principles can also be distinguished from policies, but it can get confusing because the expression "honesty is the best policy" is often used as a kind of principle!

A policy is a standard that is justified on the basis of promoting specific goals or outcomes.

Moral principles do not need to be tied to bringing about specific outcomes, since people often defend their principles regardless of the consequences or costs (such as people thinking you are impolite).

We stand by them as a matter of principle!

Moral Principles As Absolutes

Some people conceive of moral principles as absolutes.

This can make them seem very similar to rules.

But they are still distinct.

Even when moral principles are absolutes, meaning that there are no circumstances under which they get outweighed or fail to bind our actions, they are still distinct from rules, because they provide justifications for acting (or not acting) a certain way. Rules, by themselves, do not carry the same weight as principles.

Not everyone thinks it is helpful or correct to treat principles as moral absolutes, but there is one aspect of this idea which is very useful.

It is very often the case that moral principles are negative rather than positive.

In other words, many moral principles tell us what we must never do, rather than what we must do.

The distinction between negative and positive principles is useful because many people want to rule out certain kinds of actions from ever being a real option under consideration.

Certain kinds of action should never have any weight in our moral reasoning.

They are absolutely wrong. Period.

Next time you act on a principle, think about whether the principle you are acting on is negative or positive.

Moral Principles As Guides

Moral principles also play an important role in guiding and shaping our moral decision-making process.

Moral principles guide moral decision making by structuring the facts of a given situation, highlighting what matters, and sidelining what does not matter.

When moral principles are connected with a situation or "case", they can help us determine how to act.

While moral principles can be “applied” to a case in a similar way to rules are, they serve multiple different functions.

As I said above, principles are unlike rules in that they can be weighed against each other in a way that allows us to determine what is most important in the specific situation (Sometimes we might simply follow rules directly and have no need of principles).

There are different ways to conceptualize weighing principles.

Principles may be taken as heuristics that allow us to illuminate a moral situation and have a rough lay of the land. When facing a moral decision, it is often helpful to do some rough weighing, or “napkin math”, of different principles and then act.

This may be good when something is urgent, or when we are acting under uncertainty and limited information.

Alternatively, we might try to specify the relative weights of principles and arrive at a more precise calculation and balance our reasons for and against something.

Another way to weigh principles is to simply make hierarchical orderings of them, and then make a decision based on the ordering or rankings that hold between principles.

Finally, we might treat moral principles as moral absolutes.

Treating principles as absolutes is equivalent to giving them 100% weight.

Moral principles can also guide us by helping us clarify the details of a specific situation.

They provide lenses through which we can dissect a moral dilemma or problem.

Using principles in our reasoning and discussion helps us ask the right questions and arrive at a deeper understanding of the relevant ethics facts in a case.

This also works in the other direction. Considering a specific situation can also help us clarify and specify our moral principles. We can learn a lot from complicated moral situations, and they can help us discover or reaffirm our commitments to principles.

Moral principles also guide moral decision making by putting constraints in place that put certain options on the table, and take other options off of the table.

For example, suppose someone offers you a considerable amount of money to purchase a memento that belonged to your beloved grandmother. Even though the money has considerable utility, your moral principles surrounding respect and love might neutralize the value of the money and take it off the table completely such that you never even consider selling.

You might even feel bad if you did consider selling the memento because it conflicts with your moral principles and would undermine your respect for your grandmother.

One of the most interesting questions in Ethics and Moral Psychology is whether we are responsible not only for our actions, but our thoughts.

Is it possible to be a bad person if you think bad thoughts even though you don’t act on them?

What do you think?

Most importantly, moral principles connect abstract values to concrete actions, adding a further layer of shaping and guidance (the layer of values). Moral principles do this by specifically connecting the different aspects, or parts, of a value to real world circumstances.

We can see how this works with one of the ubiquitous values —Justice.

It is common to distinguish between different aspects or kinds of Justice, such as Distributive Justice and Retributive Justice.

Distributive Justice concerns the fair distribution of resources, whereas Retributive Justice concerns the fair determination of punishment.

Some moral principles will "activate" or "apply" one part of Justice, but not the other, to a specific situation where it is relevant.

When considering a situation in which a crime has been committed, a Judge might tap into Retributive Justice in determining a sentence because that is the part of Justice that is relevant in the specific context. When considering how to compensate victims, the same judge might tap into Distributive Justice to determine what a fair compensation would be.

Moral principles also can factor directly into our moral reasoning, as demonstrated above. For example:

1. Principle: Killing is wrong

2. Fact: If I pull the trigger, I will kill the man.

3. Rule/Core Belief: Never do anything wrong.

4. Conclusion: Don't shoot.

In this simple moral argument you make to yourself, a moral principle — Killing is wrong — serve as a key step in your reasoning itself.

This is another very direct way in which moral principles can guide us.

The Benefits Of Moral Principles

A micro-philosophy is not just a theory or an object of knowledge.

It is a personal philosophy for living.

It has a practical aim.

Moral principles are the hybrid entities that try to serve both a practical and theoretical aim.

They serve a theoretical aim by illuminating and explaining what makes certain actions or people right or wrong, good or bad.

They serve a practical aim by guiding and participating in our moral decision-making and reasoning practices.

Without moral principles, we risk making important life choices that affect ourselves and others without really understanding why we are choosing one thing rather than another.

This introduces chaos into our moral lives, and leaves us feeling moral angst.

We may begin to question ourselves.

Are we good family members? Friends? Lovers?

Why do we always feel a moral hangover when we make important decisions, as if we can never get it quite right?

Are human beings doomed to feel regret?

When made explicit, moral principles can clarify who we really are and what we care about doing in the world.

Moral principles unify our practical lives and moral identity.

Understanding the principles behind your actions is a way to understand what unifies you as a self, or as a moral agent.

I will call this your practical identity (practical here is referring to action).

Who and what you are is not reducible to your moral principles, but heavily influenced by them.

Life can get very complicated, especially in the modern world. We often aren’t able to have all of the information we need before we decide what to do, or how to treat someone else. The result is that we often have to rely on, or “go off of”, who we are. We can’t wait around and gather more and more facts before doing something.

Moral principles give us a moral point of view from which we can make informed and determinate decisions in a chaotic world.

Even if you are someone who has no moral principles, that shapes and determines your practical identity.

Moral principles are the raw material of our personal code of conduct or personal system of ethics.

They tell us how we think we should act in the world —what sort of person we think we should be.

They also help us understand our values and how they connect to our actions.

The more you articulate and embody your moral principles, the more clear your core values will become. This will also create a stronger sense of unity and alignment in yourself and your actions.

Think about how many actions and decisions you make every day.

Some of what we do is clearly good.

Some of it bad.

Some of it neutral.

Is there anything that unifies or explains why all of these different kinds of actions, in very different circumstances, are good, bad, or neutral? Is there something in common between all of your good actions? What about all of your mistakes?

Principles help us organize this data and explain why certain actions fall into one category or another.

They help us clarify our moral lives.

Note: I should note that some people think, on very reasonable grounds, that there is nothing unifying our actions and behaviors. This would be a surprising result. This would mean that the stories we tell ourselves about how we are living and acting are mostly a fantasy, and our lives are far more chaotic than we would like to believe.

An unprincipled person is a chaotic person.

It is not clear what they stand for.

Without principles, your life is more chaotic and your moral self is less unified.

That makes it more difficult to act authentically because there is no clear foundation or precedent on which you are acting.

Authenticity requires knowing what someone or something is as a baseline.

If you are always changing, then you are never anything.

Are there any underlying features that explain why you do what you do? Or are you just making it up as you go along?

If you want to avoid acting chaotically, with no clear purpose or direction, you need to think about what your principles are, and how they connect to your core values.

What are your principles?

Principalism vs. Non-Principalism

What if someone disagrees that our lives should be guided by principles?

What are the alternatives?

One alternative is the idea that we act in each situation in a completely spontaneous way because there are no universal principles that can guide us.

We must decide each case by using our intuition or spontaneous judgment.

This is a legitimate position in contemporary meta-ethics, but it is not in alignment with how I understand the role of a micro-philosophy in someone’s life. As I conceive of it, you cannot have a micro-philosophy without principles. If a micro-philosophy is to be understood as a complete system of beliefs and values that also guide specific actions, principles are needed to bridge certain gaps.

In other words, a micro-philosophy assumes a philosophical position called “principalism”.

Principalism is the idea that principles are needed to play a general role in guiding our moral decision—making and, hence, your micro-philosophy.

This does not mean that a micro-philosopher ignores the relativity of context and circumstance. The idea is that the principles are applied to a highly unique context and interact with it to generate unique results. We still must pay attention to the facts of the situation we are in and treat each case or life situation as distinct.

In other words, principles should not be thought of as absolute rules.

They are meant to be morally flexible.

Conclusion

At this point, it should be clear that moral principles are not just abstract philosophical concepts, but play a starring role in your moral life.

Moral principles are the foundation of a stable, meaningful, and authentic life. They provide a bridge between our deepest values and our concrete actions, helping us to navigate the complexities of moral decision-making with clarity and consistency.

In a world that often feels chaotic, unmoored, and uncertain, principles serve as the anchors that keep us grounded.

Moral principles allow us to make sense of our actions, unify our moral identity, and provide a consistent framework for making ethical choices. Without principles, we risk living reactively—drifting from one decision to another based on impulse, social pressure, or fleeting emotions rather than on a well-thought-out system of beliefs.

A person without principles is subject to the whims of external forces and internal confusion. They may experience fleeting moments of clarity and moral confidence, but they will ultimately lack a coherent sense of self and purpose.

A person who consciously develops and adheres to principles is better equipped to face life’s challenges with integrity, resilience, and self-respect.

Ironically, having strong principles does not restrict your freedom—it enhances it.

When you are clear about your moral framework, you no longer waste energy agonizing over every decision or feeling lost in moments of uncertainty. You gain a sense of control over your destiny, a confidence in your choices, and a profound inner peace that comes from knowing that you are acting in alignment with your values.

Living without principles may seem liberating at first, but it ultimately leads to confusion, inconsistency, and regret.

Without principles, every decision becomes a fresh struggle, and moral dilemmas become paralyzing rather than clarifying. Principles provide a roadmap, reducing the anxiety of uncertainty and allowing you to move through life with greater conviction and purpose.

A well-crafted set of principles is more than just a moral compass—it is a defining aspect of your identity.

The principles you choose and uphold shape how others perceive you and, more importantly, how you perceive yourself. A person who lives by strong, well-considered principles earns the respect of others and, most importantly, self-respect.

When you have a firm grasp of your principles, you no longer feel the need to seek validation from external sources.

You are no longer swayed by fleeting societal trends or the opinions of others because you have an internal foundation that guides you. This self-assuredness is what distinguishes principled individuals from the masses—it is the mark of someone who truly knows who they are and what they stand for.

Building a micro-philosophy is not just about intellectual curiosity—it is about taking control of your life and shaping it with intentionality and purpose.

By developing a clear set of moral principles, you are not just making better decisions; you are constructing the foundation for a life of integrity, authenticity, and lasting meaning.

In the end, the question is not whether you will have principles, but whether you will choose them consciously or let them be dictated by circumstance and social influence.

Choose wisely.

The path of a principled person is not always the easiest, but it is undoubtedly the most rewarding.

So, what are your principles? And more importantly, are you ready to live by them?