Normative ethics

Ethics

Theoretical

Meta-ethics Normative · Descriptive Consequentialism Deontology Virtue ethics Ethics of care Good and evil · Morality

Applied

Bioethics · Cyberethics · Medical Engineering · Environmental Human rights · Animal rights Legal · Media Business · Marketing Religion · War

Core issues

Justice · Value Right · Duty · Virtue Equality · Freedom · Trust Free will · Consent Moral responsibility

Key thinkers

Confucius · Mencius Socrates Aristotle · Aquinas Hume · Kant Bentham · Mill Kierkegaard · Nietzsche Hare · Rawls  · Nozick

Lists

List of ethics topics List of ethicists

This box: view • talk • edit

Normative ethics is the branch of philosophical ethics concerned with what people should believe to be right and wrong, as distinct from descriptive ethics, which deals with what people do believe to be right and wrong. Hence, normative ethics is sometimes said to be prescriptive, rather than descriptive.

Moreover, because it examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions, normative ethics is distinct from meta-ethics, which studies the nature of moral statements, and from applied ethics, which places normative rules in practical contexts.

Normative ethical theories

• Consequentialism (Teleology) argues that the morality of an action is contingent on the action's outcome or result. Some consequentialist theories include:
  • Utilitarianism, which holds that an action is right if it leads to the most value for the greatest number of people (Maximizes value for all people).
  • Egoism, the belief that the moral person is the self-interested person, holds that an action is right if it maximizes good for the self.
  • Situation Ethics, which holds that the correct action to take is the one which creates the most loving result, and that love should always be our goal.

• Deontology argues that decisions should be made considering the factors of one's duties and other's rights. Some deontological theories include:
  • Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative, which roots morality in humanity's rational capacity and asserts certain inviolable moral laws.
  • The Contractarianism of John Rawls or Thomas Hobbes, which holds that the moral acts are those that we would all agree to if we were unbiased.
  • Natural rights theories, such that of John Locke which holds that human beings have absolute, natural rights.

• Virtue ethics, which was advocated by Aristotle, focuses on the inherent character of a person rather than on the specific actions he or she performs. There has been a significant revival of virtue ethics in the past half-century, through the work of such philosophers as G. E. M. Anscombe, Philippa Foot, and Rosalind Hursthouse.

See also

• Normative
• Norm (philosophy)

---

No comments have been added.

Your name:
City:
Country:	USA UK India Pakistan UAE Saudi Arabia Germany Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burund Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Rep Chad Chile China Columbia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic DR Congo Denmark Djiboutil Dominica Dominican Rep Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eq Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Grenadines Guatemala Guinea Bissau Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nauru Nepal Neth Antilles Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Rawanda Romania Russia Sao Tome Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Africa Spain Sri Lanka St Kitts_Nevis St Lucia Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvala UAE Uganda Ukraine Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Western Samoa Yemen Yugoslavia Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe
Your comments:
Security check * (Please enter the number into adjoining box)