prescriptivism

/ prɪˈskrɪptɪˌvɪzəm /

noun

1. ethics the theory that moral utterances have no truth value but prescribe attitudes to others and express the conviction of the speaker Compare descriptivism emotivism

Example Sentences

To students of language, it’s a battle of descriptivism - analyzing and documenting the real-world use of language - versus prescriptivism - the idea that one manner of language use or set of rules is better than another.

From Washington Times

Thevenot said that he has long found the “folk prescriptivism” of competitive Scrabble’s “armchair lexicographers” vexing.

From The New Yorker

The Berlin interpretation, with its mix of high-value and low-value characteristics, is the most comprehensive definition, and even that is attacked for its prescriptivism and its archaism.

From Forbes