Prescriptive claims and value judgments are two concepts that caught my attention as I was reading through Epstein's book. Prescriptive and descriptive claims are the two different types of claims that Epstein goes into details about. According to the author, a prescriptive claim is one that "says what should be" whereas a descriptive claim is one that "says what is." Basically what that means is that a prescriptive claim is where someone commands what needs to be done. For example, a prescriptive claim would sound something like: "you should always drink water if you want your skin to be nice." Because of the word, should, it indicates that the statement above is a command from someone else. However, a descriptive claim of that same statement would sound something like: "drinking water will keep your skin healthy and nice." It does not have any commanding tone to it, but rather more of a fact.
A value judgment, on the other hand, is similar to a prescriptive claim. The only difference is that it includes words like good, better, best, or its antonyms: bad, worse, worst. A value judgment is someone's opinion of whether something is right or wrong.
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I forgot about this section in the book. I never thought about there is a difference between descriptive and prescriptive sentences. I never actually knew there were such things as descriptive and prescriptive sentences. However, I realize how we use them every day. I realize how some people may use prescriptive sentences more than others. For example, parents, teachers, doctors, bosses, and coaches would probably use more prescriptive sentences when telling people what to do. On the other hand, some people may use more descriptive sentences more. For example, scientists, artists, children, and psychologists probably use more descriptive sentences to describe their work or feelings. Those aren't facts, just an observation!
ReplyDeleteI can't stand when people make value judgements. With what I read in your post, along with what I read out of the book, I was instantly reminded of people who tell me, "that's not good for you," as if they know my health history.
ReplyDeleteThis page speaks in circles. Unless what is stated is a fact, it is an opinion regardless of who says it!
ReplyDeleteMy professor today said I am opting for a "prescriptive judgements" approach in my historiographic essay... which is how I ended up here. As a certified Myers-Briggs practitioner, I am reminded of my own personality preferences (ISTJ). I want to comment... be careful not to "judge" people too harshly whether they are prescriptive or descriptive. We each have our own preferences, prescriptive is mine. In fact, I am a parent, coach and teacher (see list in original post) We exercise these divergent preferences because it is how our personality preferences lean. We each interact with the world in part through our personality preferences and it is usually not nefarious in nature. The comment above "I can't stand when people make value judgements" caught my eye. That is a near value judgement in itself. Listen to the divergent preferences in your community, job, family, and sphere of influence. Don't shut people off, i.e. "cancel culture," just because they have a preference for either prescriptive or descriptive... that is different from your own. Both styles are required in society, just like the divergent personality preferences that make up the vast human race.
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