Diving Deep
When (And Why) You Should Break Your Principles
A Hard Look At What Really Matters When It’s Time To Make A Tough Decision.
Principles permeate our view of morality or ethics— so much so that we tend to automatically think of a person who “has principles” as a good person. We admire these folks, as they often have the strength to follow a rule even to their own detriment.
For example, consider a person with low income who goes back to the store to pay for something that the clerk forgot to charge for because it is against their principle to take something that isn’t theirs. Not only does this person “have principles” but we would also likely say they are virtuous — at least with respect to the virtue of honesty.
Although principles (and indeed, virtues) are very valuable, they are not valuable for the reason people think. And one implication of this is that there are times when you should actually break them.
Here’s why.
A Thought Experiment
To see why principles are important and yet also see their limitations, we need to have a view of what, at the end of the day, really matters (from a moral perspective).
