The Six Principles are the ethical foundation of Ethigrality. They articulate the indispensable goods without which individuals, communities, organizations, and societies cannot flourish. They are not Western or Islamic or particular to any one tradition—they are universal goods that appear across cultures, religions, and philosophies worldwide.
Five principles define what must be protected. One principle—Balance—ensures they are never pursued at the expense of each other.
Together, they form a coherent system where preservation and flourishing are inseparable.
Life is the foundation of all other goods. Without survival, progeny cannot be secured, wealth has no purpose, conscience cannot flourish, and intellect cannot develop. This principle demands that governance prioritize human and ecological survival—the physical conditions that make existence possible.
Violations include: neglect of public health, poverty-driven starvation, unsafe working conditions, preventable disease, ecosystem collapse that undermines food and water security, and violence.
Progeny extends Life across time. It means investing in education, family stability, and ecological sustainability so that future generations inherit a habitable world, not depleted resources and broken institutions. This principle refuses to trade the future for present convenience.
Violations include: over-extraction of natural resources, unsustainable debt burdens passed to children, failure to invest in education, policies that destabilize families and communities, and ecological damage that forecloses future possibilities.
Intellect is the capacity to understand reality and make free, informed choices. This principle protects the freedom to learn, question, and reason—whether through science, philosophy, art, or dialogue. It rejects censorship, disinformation, and the manipulation of reason for narrow interests.
Violations include: suppression of academic freedom, control of media and information, deliberate disinformation campaigns, curtailment of critical thinking in education, and technologies that undermine rational capacity.
Conscience is the capacity to hold and act on moral convictions. This principle protects freedom of religion, philosophy, and ethical orientation—and equally protects the right to dissent, to question authority, and to maintain moral integrity even under pressure. It rejects coercion in matters of belief.
Violations include: persecution based on religion or philosophy, denial of freedom of conscience, coercion to conform, discrimination based on moral identity, and suppression of dissent or critical moral witness.
Wealth is not mere accumulation but stewardship—resources held in trust for community and creation. This principle demands that resources circulate fairly, that exploitation and theft are prohibited, and that extreme inequality is corrected. Wealth has meaning only when shared justly.
Violations include: theft and fraud, unjust taxation, extreme inequality, exploitative labor, usury and predatory finance, and treating creation as a commodity to be extracted without limit.
Balance is the operating principle that harmonizes the five core principles. It ensures that progress in one domain never erodes another—that Life is protected without destroying Progeny, that Wealth circulates without violating Conscience or Intellect, that Intellect advances without suppressing Conscience. Balance asks the fundamental question: are all five principles advancing together, or is one being sacrificed for others?
Violations include: policies that advance one principle while degrading another, systems that concentrate benefits while distributing costs unequally, extraction without regeneration, short-term gains at the expense of long-term stability, and growth that improves some indicators while worsening others.
No. Life requires Balance with ecology because present survival depends on future survival. A public health program that improves medical care today while destroying the water sources or agricultural systems future generations need violates Balance. You cannot maximize Life by sacrificing the ecological foundation that makes Life possible.
Real-world example: A factory improves worker health standards (Life) but pollutes the river that supplies the surrounding community with drinking water (Balance violation). The factory has failed the Balance test—improving one aspect of Life while destroying another. True coherence means protecting worker health and ecosystem integrity simultaneously.
Health policies that are also ecological policies. Environmental regulations that are also worker protection. Medical investment that asks: "Will this improve health today without destroying health tomorrow?"
You must do both. Progeny requires Balance across time—you cannot sacrifice present justice for future security, or vice versa.
This means: Don't tell people suffering today "we'll fix it for your grandchildren." And don't tell children "we'll deal with the damage later." Both are violations of Balance.
Real-world example: A development policy that creates jobs today (present justice) but leaves communities with unsustainable debt and depleted resources (future insecurity) violates Balance. So does an environmental policy that protects the future while condemning today's poor to poverty.
Decisions must serve both timeframes simultaneously:
The test: Ask "Who pays the cost?" If it's future generations or today's poor, it's not balanced.
Because Intellect requires Balance with Conscience. You cannot advance knowledge at the cost of suppressing belief or critical dissent.
Knowledge achieved through coercion, manipulation of information, or silencing of dissenting voices is not genuine knowledge—it's propaganda. And societies that suppress conscience in pursuit of knowledge typically produce bad science and bad governance.
Real-world example: A government funds research (advancing Intellect) but suppresses researchers who publish findings critical of policy (violates Conscience). The research is compromised because people suppress inconvenient truths. Or: A technology company develops AI (advancing Intellect) but uses surveillance to monitor users' beliefs and manipulate their choices (violates Conscience). The technology is corrupted by the violation.
Education and research that protect both advancement and freedom:
The test: Can people think freely while learning? Can they believe AND reason? If not, it's not balanced.
Because Conscience requires Balance with Intellect. You cannot protect freedom of belief without protecting freedom of inquiry.
If people cannot question their own beliefs, examine evidence, or engage in dialogue, their "freedom" is hollow. Conscience without the capacity to think critically and investigate is just obedience wearing a mask.
Real-world example: A society legally protects religious practice (Conscience) but prohibits education that might challenge religious assumptions (violates Intellect). Citizens cannot truly exercise conscience because they lack the information to make informed moral choices. Or: A community allows diverse beliefs (Conscience) but suppresses critical questions about those beliefs (violates Intellect). Conscience becomes dogma.
Moral freedom grounded in knowledge:
The test: Can people think critically about what they believe? If not, conscience is compromised.
No. Wealth requires Balance with all four other principles. You cannot circulate resources fairly without honoring Life, Progeny, Intellect, and Conscience.
Wealth achieved by exploiting workers (violates Life), mortgaging the future (violates Progeny), suppressing knowledge (violates Intellect), or coercing people (violates Conscience) is not genuine wealth—it's extraction. And extractive systems eventually collapse.
Real-world example: A corporation becomes profitable (Wealth) by:
This is not coherent Wealth. It's predatory extraction masquerading as business.
Resources circulated fairly while all principles are honored:
The test: Does this create wealth for some by diminishing Life, Progeny, Intellect, or Conscience for others? If yes, it violates Balance.
Q: How do I know if a policy or decision is balanced?
Ask two core questions:
This combines Life and Progeny:
Both must be true. If you improve health today but destroy resources for tomorrow, you fail. If you protect the future but condemn people to poverty now, you fail.
This combines Intellect, Conscience, and Wealth:
All three must be true. If you advance knowledge by suppressing dissent, you fail. If you protect beliefs but prevent learning, you fail. If you create wealth by exploiting workers or the environment, you fail.
Question 1 — Foundation:
Question 2 — Freedom & Stewardship:
Result: BALANCED. It can move forward with confidence.
Question 1 — Foundation:
Question 2 — Freedom & Stewardship:
Result: UNBALANCED. It violates Conscience and Wealth. Redesign required before proceeding.
The violations are clear:
Until these are addressed, the project cannot claim to be aligned with the Six Principles.
This is not compromise—it's not splitting the difference between justice and injustice.
This is coherence: designing governance, business, and institutions so all five principles advance together.
When they don't, when one principle dominates at the expense of others, the system is incoherent. It may look productive short-term, but it will fracture long-term.
Balance ensures that doesn't happen.
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Before a policy, investment, or corporate initiative advances to budget committees, boards, or parliaments, it must answer five core questions and one transversal test:
Core Principles:
Transversal Test:
If a proposal fails any core principle test, it is deemed incoherent and cannot proceed. If a proposal passes all five principles individually but violates Balance (e.g., "we're improving worker Wealth but destroying ecological Balance"), it is also rejected as incoherent. This is not a veto; it is a filter. Proposals that pass MAP—satisfying all five principles in balance—advance to the normal governance cycle with ethics already embedded, reducing downstream contradictions.
Where MAP is Used:
AIG recognizes that the Higher Objectives cannot be achieved by any one actor alone, and that Balance—the principle ensuring no one objective dominates—requires all stakeholders to be present in decision-making:
Without all five voices at the table, Balance is impossible. One principle will inevitably dominate.
AIG embeds this interdependence into governance structures:
Where AIG is Used:
CIF uses data integration and algorithmic analysis to detect these Balance violations early, before they accumulate into systemic failures.
Three Layers of Monitoring:
1. Principle-Specific Signals
2. Balance-Violation Detection
3. Early Warning System
Data Sources:
Human Oversight: CIF is not autonomous. Algorithms detect divergences and principle conflicts; humans interpret context and decide action. This preserves accountability while enabling scale and speed.
Where CIF is Used:
Four Components:
1. Scenario Testing for Balance
2. Citizen Review Panels for Balance
3. Balance Tipping Point Monitoring
Certain breaches of Balance trigger automatic policy review:
When crossed, governance pauses and reassesses, rather than continuing on autopilot
2. Iterative Refinement for Balance
Rather than 5-year policy cycles, AES embeds 6-month reflection cycles where evidence is reviewed:
Where AES is Used:
Life is the most fundamental principle. It encompasses:
Without life, all other goods are impossible. Future generations cannot be secured if people are starving today. Resources cannot be justly distributed if communities are dying of preventable disease. Knowledge cannot flourish if people are consumed by survival anxiety. Moral freedom cannot exist if people live in fear.
This principle appears across human civilizations. Indigenous traditions prioritize "seven generations" of human and ecological survival. Christian theology affirms the sanctity of life. Jewish law protects the vulnerable. Secular human rights frameworks place life and health at the foundation of dignity. Islamic jurisprudence recognizes that in cases of existential threat, survival takes priority—but this principle has a universal lesson: life is so fundamental that ordinary governance must never make survival exceptional. It is the baseline condition for everything else.
Life without Balance collapses into ecological crisis. A policy that improves public health while destroying ecosystems violates Balance because it undermines the future Life of coming generations. A corporation that increases worker safety (Life) while poisoning the local water supply (Balance violation) has failed the test.
Progeny extends beyond children to future generations and the conditions that make flourishing possible. It encompasses:
Progeny is the principle of time itself. It asks: What are we building that will last? What are we leaving behind? A society that maximizes present consumption at the cost of future instability has chosen convenience over justice. Progeny rejects this bargain.
This is why every enduring civilization has emphasized intergenerational responsibility. Indigenous cultures institutionalize the "seventh generation principle"—decisions must be evaluated by their impact on descendants seven generations forward. Religious traditions across the world teach stewardship and custodianship of resources for those to come. Modern climate science quantifies exactly what this principle demands: we must live within planetary boundaries so future humans have a habitable world.
Progeny without Balance leads to unsustainable extraction. A policy that educates children while poisoning their future environment violates Balance. A corporation that invests in worker development while depleting the ecological commons has failed the test. Progeny demands that we secure future generations without sacrificing their Life or Balance.
Intellect is the capacity for reason, understanding, and the pursuit of truth. It encompasses:
Intellect is what enables humans to understand reality and make free, informed choices. Without it, people cannot consent to governance; they can only be controlled. Without it, communities cannot solve problems or adapt to change. Without it, societies stagnate.
Every human civilization has recognized that the capacity to think, question, and learn is indispensable. Plato placed reason at the center of justice. Confucian philosophy makes education foundational to social order. Indigenous traditions pass knowledge across generations through teaching and dialogue. Modern democracies depend on educated citizens who can evaluate evidence and hold power accountable.
Intellect without Balance becomes destructive. A technology that advances knowledge while enabling surveillance and manipulation violates Balance. A corporation that invests in R&D while suppressing worker voice or manipulating consumer information has failed the test. Intellect must serve all five principles, not dominate them.
Conscience is the capacity to hold and act on moral convictions, including but not limited to religious belief. It encompasses:
Conscience is the seat of human dignity. It is what allows people to say "no" to unjust commands, to stand with the oppressed even when alone, to maintain moral integrity under pressure. Without Conscience, people are mere instruments of authority. Without Conscience, communities cannot have genuine moral conversation—they can only enforce conformity.
This principle appears in every enduring civilization and ethical tradition. Freedom of belief is a universal human right recognized across cultures. The capacity to witness injustice and speak truth is protected in legal traditions worldwide. Philosophers from different eras and places recognize that moral autonomy—the right to follow one's conscience—is foundational to human dignity.
Conscience without Balance becomes coercive. A society that honors religious conscience while suppressing critical dissent violates Balance. A corporation that respects worker beliefs while ignoring their economic needs has failed the test. Conscience must be universal—extended equally to those we agree with and those we don't. And critically, Conscience must protect the right to question and challenge, not just to believe privately.
Wealth is not mere accumulation but stewardship—resources held in trust and circulated justly. It encompasses:
Wealth is the material condition for human flourishing. Without resources, people cannot survive, educate children, pursue knowledge, or maintain dignity. But wealth pursued without justice corrodes everything else. Inequality breeds resentment and instability. Exploitation generates poverty and desperation. Resource extraction without regeneration destroys the future.
Every human society has recognized that resources must be circulated justly for communities to endure. Indigenous cultures developed sophisticated commons management systems that sustained communities across centuries. Religious traditions teach that wealth is not personal possession but stewardship. Modern economics recognizes that fair distribution, rule of law, and worker protection are essential to stable markets. Environmental science shows that resources are finite and must be regenerated.
Wealth without Balance becomes exploitation. A corporation that accumulates profit while destroying ecosystems (Balance violation) or underpaying workers (Wealth unjustly distributed) has failed the test. Wealth must be circulated fairly, used sustainably, and never at the cost of Life, Progeny, Conscience, or Intellect.
Balance is not a sixth principle to be "protected" like the others. Rather, it is a cross-cutting, transversal principle that orchestrates the five core principles, ensuring they remain in harmony and never contradict each other. (The term al-mīzān from Islamic jurisprudence names this principle, reflecting its deep grounding in Islamic legal thought, but the principle itself is recognized across philosophical and natural systems worldwide.)
Where the five core principles define what must be protected, Balance defines how they must be held together.
Across Life and Progeny: Balance ensures that securing immediate survival doesn't undermine future generations' capacity to survive. A famine relief program that protects Life now must not deplete resources that Progeny requires.
Across Life and Wealth: Balance ensures that creating prosperity doesn't exploit vulnerable people and strip them of the conditions for survival. Growth that improves Wealth while destroying workers' Life violates Balance.
Across Intellect and Conscience: Balance ensures that advancing knowledge doesn't suppress freedom of belief, and that protecting belief doesn't suppress critical inquiry. Scientific freedom and religious freedom must coexist, not dominate each other.
Across Wealth and Progeny: Balance ensures that accumulating resources now doesn't load unsustainable debt onto future generations, and that investment in the future doesn't create poverty today.
Across all five simultaneously: Balance asks the fundamental question: Are we advancing all five principles together, or is one being sacrificed for others?
Balance reveals itself most clearly in complexity—when multiple goods are in tension:
In each case, Balance is not compromise—splitting the difference between justice and injustice. Rather, Balance is coherence: designing governance so all five principles advance together.
Balance is not a human invention—it is a pattern woven into creation itself. Physics, ecology, chemistry, social systems—all operate according to equilibrium principles. Gravity balances objects. Ecosystems balance predator and prey. Water cycles move through atmosphere and ocean in proportion. Social systems that ignore balance collapse into conflict or dysfunction.
This pattern is recognized across civilizations: Chinese philosophy centers on yin-yang balance; Indigenous wisdom teaches harmony with natural cycles; Stoic philosophy emphasizes living in accordance with natural order; modern systems theory studies how balance maintains resilience. The principle is universal: transgress the balance and systems break.
Balance operates at every level:
Current Prototypes:
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In Active Testing
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🔹 GREEN DELIGENCE - Sustainable Finance & Portfolio ESG Integration
Status: Demonstrated
In Active Testing
Focus: ESG automation across investment cycle (pre-investment → reporting)
Ready for: Impact funds, DFIs, institutional investors ---
HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER
Research Integration: Exporters use Globalign (4R Framework™) → Achieve PERI™ readiness certification → Access Green Deligence-integrated financing → Sustainable value chain enabled
Measures alignment across governance levels — national, regional, and local.
Detects when local plans contradict higher-level strategies (e.g., zoning vs. climate targets).
Helps ensure top-down policies cascade coherently into territorial implementation.
Goes beyond compliance to evaluate cross-scale reinforcement.
Identifies where different levels of government pursue mutually supportive objectives — creating synergies instead of duplication.
Quantifies how strategies converge toward shared sustainability outcomes.
Examines intersectoral consistency across themes such as housing, mobility, health, and environment.
Highlights conflicts between departmental or policy silos that share territory but not vocabulary.
Enables integrated planning and avoids contradictory investments.
Assesses the semantic and ethical quality of policy language.
Checks whether commitments are explicit, measurable, and aligned with SDG/ESG principles.
Bridges the gap between policy intention and implementation clarity.
Aligns short-, medium-, and long-term planning horizons.
Detects time gaps where a long-term climate goal conflicts with short-term infrastructure choices.
Ensures continuity across electoral and strategic cycles.
Evaluates how policy functions — not just what it says.
Measures operational interdependence among programmes, budgets, and delivery mechanisms.
Provides a systems view linking resources, responsibilities, and results.