Normative aims and directives are part of normative ethics. About how you should act as you walk the journey of life. The aim is the goal and the directive is the rule. So, a normative aim is the goal toward which you should direct your actions in life. For example, act in a way everyone should. A normative directive is a rule specifying how you act.

For example, my mantra includes “causing no harm.” The “no harm” is the goal, the normative aim, but there are times you have to choose between two harms. The rule that actually supports the aim is “cause less harm.” In TST philosophy, the aim is flourishing and the rule is act toward flourishing for all.

The goal is self-flourishing, but you achieve it with a flourishing-for-all rule. Sure, you can get far in life by stomping on others, but you can get farther by raising the ocean of benefits for all.

And you need a process. The idea that one simple aim or rule could serve as a universal ethical key has proven difficult to achieve. Most have decided we need a recipe. In TST Philosophy, the normative process model is the TST Ethical Roadmap. When life throws one of those lesser of two evils problems, you lean on the roadmap.

Group ethics guides. Personal morality chooses. Act with good intent. Weigh the result. Adjust.

The goal is to make the best decision you can, pay attention to what happens, and remain willing to learn.

— map / TST —

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Annotated References:

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. 4th century BCE. Book I: develops eudaimonia as the highest human good.
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. 1785. Section II: develops the Categorical Imperative, including the principle that one should act only according to maxims that could be willed as universal law.
Prestwood. 30 Philosophers. 2024. Chapters 9 and 27–29, “Aristotle and Empiricism” through “Mill and Utilitarianism”: traces eudaimonia as a flourishing goal and later compares Hume’s emphasis on moral sentiment and results, Kant’s universalized good intent, and Mill’s concern for consequences and harm, laying the groundwork for TST’s distinction between ethical aims, action-guiding principles, and a broader Ethical Roadmap.

Michael Alan Prestwood
Author & Natural Philosopher

Prestwood writes on science-first philosophy, with particular attention to the convergence of disciplines. Drawing on his TST Framework, his work emphasizes rational inquiry grounded in empirical observation while engaging questions at the edges of established knowledge. With TouchstoneTruth positioned as a living touchstone, this work aims to contribute reliable, evolving analysis in an emerging AI era where the credibility of information is increasingly contested.