Normative Ethics: Determining Moral Action
Normative ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with establishing principles and standards for evaluating human conduct. It provides the framework for determining what constitutes a moral course of action.
Key Focus of Normative Ethics
- It seeks to identify and justify moral standards or norms.
- It aims to provide guidelines or rules for conduct, helping individuals decide what they *ought* to do.
- Examples include theories like utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest number) or deontology (duty-based ethics), which offer methods for moral decision-making.
Comparison with Other Branches
- Meta-ethics: Examines the fundamental nature and meaning of ethical concepts (e.g., "What is goodness?").
- Virtue ethics: Focuses on character traits and virtues (e.g., "What kind of person should I be?").
- Applied ethics: Deals with specific, practical moral issues (e.g., medical ethics, business ethics) by applying principles derived from normative ethics.
Therefore, normative ethics directly addresses the practical means of determining a moral course of action by establishing the principles upon which such judgments are based.
Important Questions from Business Ethics
Statement I : "Working in harmony with the community and environment around us and not cheating our customers and workers we might not gain anything in the short run but in the long term it means greater profits and shareholders value".
Statement II : According to Mahatma Gandhi, capitalist class owns wealth or capital as trustees of the society.
Codes :
- Match List-I with List-II relating to corporate ethics and indicate the code of their correct matching.Codes :
List – I List – II a. Utilitarian theory i. Behaviour guiding statements. b. Code ii. Making public known about unethical company practices. c. Whistle blowing iii. Society with varied interest groups. d. Pluralistic society iv. Evaluation of plans with its consequences - Which of the following statements are correct ? Indicate the correct code.
Statement (I) : Virtue ethics is a form of ethical approach associated with Aristotle which stresses the importance of developing virtuous principles, ‘right’ character and the pursuit of a virtuous life.
Statement (II) : Utilitarianism is an ethical approach where an action is right if, and only if, it conforms to the principle of utility, whereby utility is minimised and pain and unhappiness minimised more than any alternative.
Statement (III) : ‘Deontological Ethics’ is an ethical approach where rightness or wrongness of an action or decision is not judged to be based exclusively on the consequences of that action or decision.
Code : Which of the following statements is true?
Given below are two statements:
Statement I: To exist and be successful in a competitive world a business has to be ethical.
Statement II: An ethical organisation can be recognized on the basis of its corporate excellence and not on its relations with the stakeholders.
In light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below
