A general principle by which something is judged is commonly called a standard or criterion. It serves as a benchmark to assess properties, performance, or conformity against which the subject can be evaluated.
Core ideas
- Standard or criterion: A defined benchmark used to compare and judge something. This aligns with ordinary usage in education, ethics, law, and everyday evaluation.
- Related concepts:
- Kantian ethics uses universalizability as a decision procedure to judge actions. This is a formal principle for moral assessment.
* In law, general principles like proportionality guide judicial review to assess whether measures are appropriate and not excessive.
* In everyday language, to judge something is to form an opinion or conclusion based on careful consideration.
Quick examples
- A company may set quality standards (e.g., ISO standards) as the principle by which product quality is judged.
- A moral argument might test an action against a universalizable maxim to determine moral permissibility.
- A court might apply the principle of proportionality to determine if a measure is suitable and not more restrictive than necessary.
If you’d like, I can tailor the explanation to a specific domain (ethics, law, science, everyday usage) and give more precise definitions and examples.
