Preview

Normative and Descriptive Approaches

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
938 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Normative and Descriptive Approaches
Normative and Descriptive Approaches

Decision making can be very difficult when both choices are very appealing. We are faced with many decisions daily and have to make sure we choose the right one. Ethics play a major role in decision making. It allows moral philosophy to play its part. It gives you the freedom to choose right from wrong. In this paper you will be introduced to normal and descriptive ethics. You will be given a definition, a contrast, how the approaches may impact the criminal justice professional, how the approaches are similar and vary, and which approach you feel is best and why.

“Normative ethics is the branch of philosophical ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when we think about the question “how ought one act, morally speaking?” Normative ethics can be divided into the sub-disciplines of moral theory and applied ethics. In recent years the boundaries between these sub-disciplines have increasingly been dissolving as moral theorists become more interested in applied problems and applied ethics is becoming more profoundly philosophically informed. Normative ethics is distinct from meta-ethics because it examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions, while meta-ethics studies the meaning of moral language and the metaphysics of moral facts.” (Wikipedia.org)

This approach is similar to how religious people view their God. They say that God gives the individual the choice to choose what’s right and wrong. Christians also believe that Adam and Eve utilized the power of what’s right and wrong. They were given the descriptive approach by God and they chose otherwise.

“For any act, there are three things that might be thought to be morally interesting: first, there is the agent, the person performing the act; second, there is the act itself; third, there are the consequences of the act. There are three types of normative ethical theory--virtue, deontological, and consequentiality,



References: Unknown, un. (2009). Normal Ethics. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normative_ethics Unknown, un. (2009). Descriptive Ethics. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_ethics Unknown, un. (1925, July 05). Normative ethics. Retrieved from http://www.moralphilosophy.info/normativeethics.html Sanghaya, (2009, November). Descriptive ethics. Retrieved from http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Descriptive_ethics/

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This paper discusses the differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. It will include the different way each theory addresses morality and ethics, and personal experiences that explain the relationship between virtue, values and moral concepts relating to the three theories.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed., pp. 38- 39).New York, NY: Oxford University Press.…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and demonological ethics are the three main forms of normative ethics. The purpose of this essay is to address some similarities as well as differences between the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and demonological ethics. This essay will describe the differences between how the theories addresses ethics and morality. I will include a personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts to one of the theories.…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    HU4640 Project Part1

    • 1650 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Roberson, C., & Mire, S. (2010). Ethics for criminal justice professionals. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis.…

    • 1650 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are different systems in which an individual or a company could make ethical decisions. They can vary depending on the issue at hand and they relate and different in certain ways. In this writing I will compare the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. I will include a description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. And I will give a personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this essay it is required to compare and contrast the similarities and the differences between three major ethical viewpoints or theories. The three that will be explained are virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological ethics. Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics have been broadly termed for a theory that focuses on the role of character and virtue in moral judgment. Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who said that a virtuous person is anyone who has ideal or good character traits. This theory judges a person on their character rather than an action that at some times maybe different from their normal behavior.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several ethical theories are available for study, while there are differences among them there are also many similarities. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences in Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Deontological ethics.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Thiroux, J., & Krasemann, K. (2009). Ethics theory and practice (10th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.…

    • 3025 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In vitro fertilization and human embryonic stem cell research are two of the most popular and controversial topics that are being discussed today. Lee Silver, from the film defines in vitro fertilization as:…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bail System

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Pollock, J. M. (2004). Ethics in crime and justice: Dilemmas and decisions (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.…

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Paper

    • 9026 Words
    • 37 Pages

    Culp, C.L., and Hanke, S.H. (2003). Empire of the Sun. In C.L. Culp and W.A.…

    • 9026 Words
    • 37 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is not always easy to make moral decisions, not only does it sometimes puts a person in awkward position it could also benefit you by not doing the right thing. We all have morals, but there are times when “tuning our head” can make things easier and be less stressful, in my opinion. However, the range of moral issues often reminds us that where justice is concerned, personal values, social consequences, and criminal justice outcomes are usually intertwined which can often make the decision for you.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most difficult things in the criminal justice field is related to ethics in the criminal justice profession. Whether it being a corrections officer, police officer, or a judge. The main goal is to ensure you as a professional are making the right decision for the greater good and that it falls within the guidelines that are set before you in the laws that have been written. In the recent dilemma that occurred in Broward County on February 19, 2014 is an example of an ethics dilemma in the criminal justice field that happens much too often. I will explain to you the nature of the dilemma, the ethical/unethical decision that…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This course identifies and examines the complexity of ethics pertaining to the practice of criminal justice. It focuses on applied ethics and the reasoning process justice practitioners can use to analyze and evaluate ethical dilemmas.…

    • 2619 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Normative Theory

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Normative Theory Hypotheses or other statements about what is right and wrong, desirable or undesirable, just or unjust in society. The majority of sociologists consider it illegitimate to move from explanation to evaluation. In their view, sociology should strive to be value-free, objective, or at least to avoid making explicit value-judgements. This is because, according to the most popular philosophies of the social sciences, conflicts over values cannot be settled factually. Moral pronouncements cannot be objectively shown to be true or false, since value-judgements are subjective preferences, outside the realm of rational inquiry. Thus, in his classic statement of the role of values in sociological research, Max Weber informed his audience that ʻif Tolstoi's question recurs to you: as science does not, who is to answer the question: “What shall we do, and, how shall we arrange our lives?” ... then one can say that only a prophet or a saviour can give the answersʼ (ʻScience as Vocationʼ, 1919 ). The majority of sociological enquiries are therefore analytical and explanatory. They do not pose normative questions such as ʻWhich values ought to provide for social order?ʼ and ʻHow ought society to organize itself?ʼ (Marxist sociologists are of course excluded from this generalization, since they generally subscribe to a different view of the relationship between facts and values, arguing with Marx that ʻthe philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point ... is to change itʼ.) However, without necessarily claiming to be prophets, some contemporary# (non-Marxist)# ociologists have nevertheless attempted to s find non-relativist foundations for solutions to ethical issues, for example by identifying (in the interests of a value such asjustice or progress) those moral principles which ought to regulate social relationships and institutions. Derek L. Phillips (Toward a Just Social Order, 1986) has advanced the controversial…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics