PLUS
Updated 2026-08-08
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
PLUS is a multi-level ethical check for decisions. Policies asks whether the action complies with organizational and industry rules. Legal asks whether it is lawful. Universal asks whether it conforms to widely shared values and public standards of conduct. Self asks whether the decision maker could answer for it honestly. The sequence runs from external constraint to internal judgment, and any level is capable of vetoing the decision. Its premise is that each level catches failures the others miss: something can be lawful and still violate shared values, and something can satisfy every external rule while the decision maker knows it is wrong.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Use policy check: verify the action against written organizational and industry rules. - Use legality check: confirm it is lawful in every jurisdiction involved. - Use conscience check: ask whether you could explain the decision openly and stand behind it.
Anchor fast decisions
Each level of the check tests a different source of constraint, and they are not nested, so passing one does not imply passing another. Legal compliance is a floor rather than a standard of conduct, so lawful but harmful actions pass the legal test and fail the universal one. The conscience level catches what no external rule covers, and it is the level most easily overridden under pressure, which is why the framework treats it as a veto. A single failing level is sufficient to require rework.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plusverified
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