Principle Principle

What is included in being considered to be someone's principles, and what exceptions could there be?

A basic summary of “principles” could be; a set of beliefs about methods of living and interacting with others, which someone follows. By this understanding of the concept of principles, most people have them, as long as they follow generic methods which they believe in. This concept can apply to a very wide range of structures for someone to base their decisions and actions on throughout life. Some people could potentially have very few or even no principles, if they either don't know what they believe, or dont care, but generally most people do. 

The typical interpretation of the concept of principles is more commonly; a belief in actions based on morals, but technically, principles could be regardless of morals, or even in opposition. I further distinguished aspects of morals in a post from 4+ yrs ago; Moral Mess, basically outlining morals as based on instinctual reinforcement, and can be difficult to accurately determine applicability in many situations. 

So regardless of moral beliefs, the fundamental requirements for someone to have principles, are they believe in it, and follow it. Both of these requirements don't necessarily have to be 100% of scenarios, but in order to fit the concept of principles, should be overall the majority of the time. The person should generally and mostly believe that acting or reacting in a certain way is better from their perspective. There could be a few instances where the individual changes their perspective from believing the principle is best, as long as they mostly believe it. For eg, someone might have the principle that getting revenge is bad, but for a few hrs might change that perspective if they watch a movie where someone getting revenge seems beneficial. But if they change their perspective back again, after thinking it through, that revenge causes more harm and potential continued retaliation, then they still hold the overall principle. 

The same occasional exception applies to the requirement of following the belief, since there could be a few circumstances where they still believe it is best, but falter from following the principle. As long as they mostly do and mostly try to follow it, it should still be considered a general principle. For example someone might believe the principle that violence is bad, but might falter from following the rule on an occasion where they are very angry and someone pushes them intentionally. They could still have the principle, just fail to follow it, in a moment where emotions are controlling their mind more than conscious decisions. 

Besides occasionally changing perspective of belief, or failing to follow a principle, there can also be many detailed circumstances that might apply differently for any overall principle. There could be exceptions included in their belief to a certain principle, based on certain factors involved. This would basically be getting into specific details of their belief and principle, but would not really be faltering from following or believing in the principle. For eg, someone could have the overall principle of not lying, but might believe there are certain circumstances, such as if lying would save someone's life, where they believe there should be an exception to the overall rule. Many detailed circumstances might not even be known by the individual for whether or not they believe there should be an exception to the rule, since there is virtually an infinite potential of combinations of factors in this complex modern world. 

Thought experiments of hypothetical scenarios can be helpful for someone to distinguish their principles to more accurate degrees, for a wider variety of potential detailed circumstances. Considering hypothetical scenarios allows someone to consciously decide what they believe is best, based on many scenarios. This can be helpful since if a similar situation comes up in real life, they would be much more likely to make the decision or reaction which is more beneficial according to their personal conscious thoughts. Many scenarios can have a lot of pressure to react or decide, which can cause someone to quickly react based on instinct or subconscious, which is much less effective than conscious thought, at distinguishing beneficial outcomes of the more complex scenarios of modern day life and society.  

Overall, the concept of principles is commonly interpreted as being based on morality, but could also have other bases. Someone could rarely change their mind on a belief of a principle, or fail to follow it (despite believing it), as long as they mostly believe and follow. There may be many detailed circumstances in this complex world, of a generic principle, where an individual could make an exception, but overall following a set of beliefs, is the Principle Principle.