Normative ethics

Normative ethics develops and evaluates principles about how people ought to act and what makes actions, character, or lives good.

Consequentialism: The view that an action’s moral status depends on its consequences. It judges conduct by outcomes rather than by rules or motives alone.
Metaethics: The study of the meaning, foundations, and status of moral judgments. It asks what moral claims mean and whether they can be true, rather than which principles to follow.
Socrates: An ancient Greek philosopher whose questioning shaped later ethical inquiry. His examined-life ideal made virtue and knowledge central ethical problems.
Utilitarianism: A consequentialist theory that assesses actions or rules by their contribution to overall well-being. It turns the demand to promote good consequences into a specific decision principle.
Moral pluralism: The view that multiple genuine moral values exist and may resist reduction to one measure. It raises the problem of ranking values when principles point in different directions.
Deontology: The family of ethical theories that grounds duties in rules, rights, or reasons independent of consequences. It tests whether duties constrain action even when breaking them would improve outcomes.
Descriptive ethics: The empirical study of people’s moral beliefs, practices, and codes. It reports what people accept instead of evaluating what they ought to accept.
Aristotle: An ancient Greek philosopher who developed a systematic account of virtue and human flourishing. His account in the Nicomachean Ethics became a foundation for virtue ethics.
Kantian ethics: An ethical theory grounded in Kant’s account of rational duties and respect for persons. It applies universal law and respect for persons to choices and institutions.
Moral dilemmas: Situations in which an agent faces conflicting moral requirements or serious moral losses. They test whether a theory can resolve conflicts without ignoring moral costs.

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