OBJECTIVE PRESCRIPTIVITY

AND OBJECTIVE VALUES

A. Non-Moral Properties

Objective Non-Moral To-Be-Pursuedness [or Not-To-Be-Pursuedness]: This would be a property of goals that it would be irrational, though not necessarily immoral, not to pursue [or to pursue] or a non-moral constraint on the goals to be pursued. For example the Strong or Weak Norm of Transitivity is a potential norm of Non-Moral To-Be-Pursuedness, because it is a rational constraint on preferences (goals).

Objective Non-Moral To-Be-Doneness [or Not-To-Be-Doneness]: This would be a property of actions that it would be irrational, though not necessarily immoral, to fail to perform [or to perform], in the appropriate circumstances. For example, the Instrumentalist Norm is a potential norm of non-moral to-be-doneness.

B. Moral Properties

Objective Moral To-Be-Pursuedness [or Not-To-Be-Pursuedness]: This would be property of goals that everyone morally should [or should not] pursue. For example, act utilitarians believe that the goal of maximizing overall utility is a moral goal that everyone should pursue.

Objective Moral To-Be-Doneness [or Not-To-Be-Doneness]: This would be a property of actions that everyone morally should perform [or should not perform]. For example, Kant thought that his categorical imperative was a moral norm that all rational agents should obey, regardless of whether they had any inclination to do so.

C. Epistemological Properties

Objective To-Be-Believedness [Not-To-Be-Believedness]: This would be a property beliefs that everyone should believe [or should not believe] in the appropriate circumstances. For example, the Law of Non-Contradiction is a potential norm of not-to-be-believedness.

THREE ROLES FOR OBJECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF NON-MORAL TBD, MORAL TBD, AND TBB

EXPLICIT APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES VS. IMPLICIT RESPONSIVENESS TO PRINCIPLES

EXPLICIT APPLICATION OF A PRINCIPLE

S's choice of act A conforms to principle P because S explicitly applies P to determine what to do, and S's application of P is reliable.

TWO KINDS OF IMPLICIT RESPONSIVENESS TO PRINCIPLE P

Tracking Test: The motivational state of a subject S tracks Principle P:

(1) S's motivational state leads S to choose act A and act A conforms to Principle P; and

(2) If act A did not conform to Principle P, S's motivational states would be different. S would have the motivational states that would lead S to act in ways that conform to Principle P.

Sufficient Sensitivity Test: The motivational state of a subject S is sufficiently sensitive to Principle P:

(1) S's motivational state leads S to generally act in ways that approximate Principle P; and

(2) S's motivational states tend to evolve over time in ways that make it more likely that S's acts approximate Principle P or that produce acts that better approximate Principle P.