ABSTRACT
Prescriptivism sees ought judgments as a type of prescription (or imperative). “You ought to do A,” like “Do A,” doesn’t state a fact and isn’t true or false. Instead, it expresses our will, or our desires. But unlike simple imperatives, ought judgments are universalizable. This means that they logically commit us to making similar evaluations about similar cases. This leads to a useful form of golden rule reasoning. We’ll begin by listening to the fictional Ima Prescriptivist explain his belief in prescriptivism. Then we’ll consider objections.
