A decision-making **principle** is a rule that prescribes a certain action in a certain *general class* of contexts.

Principles can conflict in a concrete situation. For example, a man might have one principle that he never misses a scheduled gym day, and a second that emergencies must be handled immediately. If an emergency arises on gym day, he might decide to prioritize the handling of that emergency over not missing the gym. The contradiction can be resolved by making a principle that one should never miss gym day, except in case of an emergency.


The Greg Coppola Method