prescriptivism

Prescriptivism is a doctrine or approach that prescribes norms, rules, or judgments about what ought to be done or how something should be. In linguistics, prescriptivism prescribes rules for correct grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and usage, in contrast to descriptivism, which aims to describe how language is used rather than how it should be used. In ethics and political or legal theory, prescriptivism refers to the view that moral or normative statements function as prescriptions intended to guide action rather than merely report states of affairs.

In linguistics, prescriptivism has historical roots in efforts to standardize languages and provide guidance for education, publishing, and formal speech. Early prescriptive grammars and dictionaries—often attributed to 18th- and 19th-century writers such as Lindley Murray and Samuel Johnson—presented rules and “correct” forms. Later figures and the rise of national norms reinforced prescriptive standards. In modern practice, prescriptivism persists in many style guides and classroom instruction, while descriptive linguistics emphasizes documenting variation and change. Critics argue that prescriptive rules are often arbitrary, culturally biased, or elitist, and that languages evolve through usage across communities.

Ethical prescriptivism, notably associated with R. M. Hare, treats moral judgments as universalizable prescriptions that express directives about how to act. It contrasts with expressivist or non-cognitive approaches that view moral language as expressive of attitudes rather than commands. The term is also used in normative debates about behavior, policy, and law, where certain standards or guidelines are presented as obligatory. See also: descriptivism.

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