Normative ethics
Normative ethics (cf. metaethics) is the branch of the philosophical study of ethics concerned with classifying actions as right and wrong without bias, as opposed to descriptive ethics. Normative ethics regards ethics as a set of norms related to actions.
Descriptive ethics deal with what the population believes to be right and wrong, while normative ethics deal with what the population should believe to be right and wrong. "Killing one's parents is wrong," is a normative ethical claim.
Moreover, because it examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions, normative ethics is distinct from metaethics, which studies the nature of moral statements, and from applied ethics, which places normative rules in practical contexts.
Normative Ethical Theories
1. Consequentialism argues that the morality of an action is contingent on the action's outcome or result. Some consequentialist theories include:
- A. Utilitarianism which holds that an action is right if it leads to the most pleasure (and least pain) for the greatest number of people.
- B. Egoism is the belief that the moral person is the self-interested person.
2. Deontology, on the other hand, ignores the outcome of an action and instead requires acts to be taken that are in accordance with an individual's duty. Examples of deontology include:
- A. Kant's Categorical Imperative which roots morality in humanity's rational capacity and creates certain inviolable moral laws.
- B. The Contractarianism of John Rawls holds that the moral acts are those that we would all agree to if we were unbiased.
- C. Philosophers such as John Locke who believe that humans have absolute rights are also considered deontologists.
3. Finally, Aristotle and others argue for virtue ethics which focuses on what actions make a good person.