Normative ethics is a branch of philosophical ethics concerned with classifying actions as right and wrong. Normative ethics attempts to develop a set of rules governing human conduct, or a set of norms for action. It deals 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.
- 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.
