ETHICS OVERVIEW

Ethics and morality, justice and values, are related terms. Ethics is often
applied by popular connotation, to right and wrong in the business or
professional world, morality to ones personal life. In the same way, justice
seems to apply to politics and the world at-large, while values and
righteousness are personal. Dictionary definitions dont distinguish clearly
between ethics and morality. Ethics is the study of moralitys effect on
conduct, the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct.
(Encarta World English Dictionary).
Ethics, then, may be viewed as the study of moralitythe practice of right
and wrong. It can be imprecise, however, and a cause of moral impotence if
we press these emphases too far. One cannot properly say, "I am an ethical
person, but not very moral." What hurts oneself, another, the community, or
the world is wrong. At least most of us, when we get to thinking about it, are
inclined to agree that what helps is moral; all that inflicts injury (of any kind)
is wrong. Further thought forces us to make exceptions for remedial action
that hurts. (Tough love may be described as the willingness to hurt and be
hurt for anothers healing, growth, and welfare.) But in a general way, we
seem forced to agree: all that tears apart the human fabric, destroys
harmony, injures human dignity, and limits growth is wrong. Healing and
reconciliation, the promotion of growth and servicein individuals or
communitiesare right and good. Albert Schweitzer is known for his guiding
principle expressed in Civilization and Ethics (1949): Ethics, too, (is) nothing
but reverence for life. This is what gives me the fundamental principle of
morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and
enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil.
Ethics and morality are part of many fields of human thought: philosophy,
literature, theology, social sciences, economics, politics and more. Each may
define terms and supply principles differently. Ethics and morality have to do
with good and evil. Part of the discussion involves the relationship of morals
to truth, beauty and happiness. The Greeks (through their art and
Playwrights, and especially in Plato and Aristotle) made the good the most
important thing in life. Rigorous intellectual effort is needed in pursuit of the
good, and to know good is to see truth and to do good. Religious systems all
see the moral life as the good life and the true purpose of human lifeand
tend to bring love (loving relationships) into the equation. Christian thought
adds an emphasis on grace in achieving moral fulfillment.
Thinking about ethics and acting ethically are obviously related, but can,
under the pressures of life and human weaknesses, get separated. Religious
faith ought to lead to a theology of justice as the Jewish prophet Micah put
it: He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require
of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your
God? (Micah 6:8).
Spike Lee caught the essence of ethical living when he used the phrase:
Doing the right thing.The Singers (see their The Moral of the Story in

Ethics: Resources) use a selection from Dostoyevskys The Brothers

Karamazov (Part 1, Book 2, Chap. 6) to question the relationship of ethics to
religion. If there is no God (Ivan stated), then it is rational even honorable,
to be egotistical because you know that you wont be punished for any
wrongdoing. In saying this, Ivan is expressing a widely held view that without
religion there would be no ethics. Yet atheists and agnostics are often highly
ethical. What reasons do they have for living ethical lives? Could they simply
be compassionate and sympathetic people who do not like to see others
suffer? Or is it, as some philosophers have argued, that when we properly
understand our interests, we will see that it really is in our interests to act
ethically? Other philosophies in terms of reason and of course, it is possible
to take a skeptical view and hold that acting ethically is simply not rational at
all. (Singers, p. 594-595)
The great ethical debate centers on the ultimate standard of right and
wrong. Perspectives of scientific positivism, secular humanism, and
monotheism differ greatly. If we consider the holocaust of W.W.II, for
instance, we can see how these philosophies must attempt critique on
different bases: survival of the fittest, common human consent, and
transcendent law. Although they may come to similar conclusions, each
perspective has used different criteria. In pluralistic societies and in a global
village, it becomes important for us to understand various perspectives and
principles of moral choice and behavior. On what bases, for instance, can the
world judge suicide bombers to be wrong in taking innocent lives? How does
this differ, and most think it does, from the killing of combatants or innocents
in war? How do scientific Darwinists, secular humanists, believing
monotheists, Jews, Christians and Muslims make moral judgments about
suggestive commercials about materialistically and hedonistically extreme
life styles, and about promiscuous sexual activity? How do liberals,
conservatives and moderates within these groups think differently about
such situations? How is the hierarchy of good and bad moral values different
in different cultures and subculturesreligious and secular? Why are private
ethical issues more important to some; social ethics more important to
others?
The complications of ethics lie in cultural assumptions and the complexity of
human life and society. We often deal with the lesser of evils and the higher
of goods in situations that are grayer than "black and white." Todays world
adds a great challenge to our consideration of ethics: it has become a matter
of human survival, whether we think of the AIDS crisis, terrorism, a nuclear
holocaust, or the environmental survival of the planet itself. Famed survivor
of the concentration camps, Elie Wiesel, provides this wisdom from his
experience: I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient
literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral
ones. Second, just as despair can come to one another only through human
beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. How important is the consideration of ethics to you personally? Why is this

so?
2. Does having religious faith make one think and act more ethically? Why or
why not, and with what possible exceptions?
3. Have you ever considered your own ethical journey or moral
development?
4. An interesting ethical question personally or in discussion with others
might be the following: What do you think more important for yourself and
society: to save the whales, lives of the unborn, or lives of children at high
risk of death?
5. Do you think others in the world, other religions and cultures, should be
encouraged to think about these things with us? In other words do we need a
global discussion about how we are hurting one another and what makes
things right or wrong?
6. What creative ways could you come up with to help us all become aware
of our moral blind spots or failure to think ethically?
7. What is the best way to get a family, a group of friends, or a classroom,
talking about morals and the ethics of different situations?
8. To what degree, do you have ethical hope for the world?
IMPLICATIONS
1. If there are any forces that, for whatever reasons, selfish or otherwise, are
against human welfare, they certainly would want to limit ethical discussion.
2. Around the world, we see great ethical breachesin politics, in business,
in athletics, and in our religious institutions. We are so used to hearing about
unethical conduct and proceedings that we become desensitized to them.
Instead, we ought to be about clarifying these offenses against the common
good and doing something to correct them.
3. Where we disagree religiously, theologically, politically, or in any other
sectarian or social ways, we must learn to discuss vital, controversial issues
from an ethical perspective. Where it seems to be missing, we must strive for
some kind of ethical agreement. We must learn to agree to disagree and live
without hurting one another.
4. Sadly, although ethical issues are important to young people, too many go
through history, and even civics classes without rigorous debates. And I
know many youth groups who dont consider difficult ethical issues.
Discussion of ethics is critically important in educating young people and
curriculum for youth programs.
Guide to Ethics & Morality
Principles, Problems, and Questions
What are ethics? What is morality? How can one behave in a moral manner?
These are among the most difficult and most interesting questions which

face people of any age. Today, however, with advancing technology, difficult
moral situations come upon us faster than we can even create the questions,
much less find the answers. This FAQ will address both general issues and
specific questions in the area of moral philosophy.
Nature of Ethics
What are Ethics and Morality? Ethics is the formal study of moral
standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is also often
called "moral philosophy." What is good? What is evil? How should I
behave - and why? How should I balance my needs against the needs
of others? These are some of the questions asked in the field of ethics,
a branch of philosophy which has some of the most immediate and
obvious consequences for how we live our lives.
Ethics, Morals, and Values There are three principle types of values
which humans can have: preferential values, instrumental values and
intrinsic values. Each plays an important role in our lives, but they
don't all play equal roles in the formation of moral standards and moral
norms.
Ethics: Descriptive, Normative and Analytic The field of ethics is
usually broken down into three different ways of thinking about ethics:
descriptive, normative and analytic. It isn't unusual for disagreements
in debates over ethics to arise because people are approaching the
topic from a different one of these three categories. Thus, learning
what they are and how to recognize them might save you some grief
later.
Ethics: Deontological, Teleological and Virtue Normative ethical
systems can generally be broken down into three categories:
deontological, teleological and virtue ethics. The first two are
considered deontic or action-based theories of morality because they
focus entirely upon the actions which a person performs. The third,
virtue ethics, focuses upon what sort of person one wants to be.
Who Cares? Why be concerned with moral theories and distinctions
between different types of moral theories? Why bother with some of
the difficult questions which are raised in metaethics? Everyone is
brought up with some sort of moral system, and it usually works out
fairly well - isn't that enough? What's the point of bothering further?
Ethics and Morality
What are they?
The terms ethics and morality are often used interchangeably - indeed, they
usually can mean the same thing, and in casual conversation there isn't a
problem with switching between one and the other. However, there is a
distinction between them in philosophy which will be maintained throughout
this FAQ.

Strictly speaking, morality is used to refer to what we would call moral

standards and moral conduct while ethics is used to refer to the formal
study of those standards and conduct. For this reason, the study of ethics is
also often called "moral philosophy." Here are some examples of statements
which express moral judgments:
1. Dumping chemicals in the rivers is wrong and ought to be banned.
2. Its wrong that our company is trying to avoid the regulations and it
should stop.
3. He's a bad person - he never treats people well and doesn't seem to
respect anyone.
As seen in the above examples, moral judgments tend to be characterized by
words like ought, should, good and bad. However, the mere appearance of
such words does not mean that we automatically have a statement about
morals. For example:
4. Most Americans believe that racism is wrong.
5. Picasso was a bad painter.
6. If you want to get home quickly, you should take the bus.
None of the above is moral judgments, although example #4 does describe
the moral judgments made by others. Example #5 is an aesthetic judgment
while #6 is simply a prudential statement explaining how to achieve some
goal.
Another important feature of morality is that it serves as a guide for people's
actions. Because of this, it is necessary to point out that moral judgments are
made about those actions which involve choice. It is only when people have
possible alternatives to their actions that we conclude those actions are
either morally good or morally bad.
When discussing morality it is important to distinguish between morals and
mores. Both are aspects of human conduct and human interaction, but they
are very different types of conduct. Mores are usually treated as "harmless
customs," where "harmless" means that failure to follow the custom may
result in a negative reaction, but not a very serious one. Such mores would
include the time of day when meals are eaten and the proper form of
greeting particular individuals.
Morals, on the other hand, involve much more serious aspects of how we
behave and how we treat others. What this means is that failure to follow the
dominant morals will result in a much harsher reaction from others examples of this would include discrimination, physical abuse and theft.
Another important distinction in morality is that between standards, conduct
and character. When we form a moral judgment, we are employing moral
standards - principles against which we compare what we see in order to
form a conclusion. Such judgments might be about particular conduct, which
includes a person's actions, or it might be about a person's character, which
includes their attitudes and beliefs.

Ethics, on the other hand, involves the study of those standards and
judgments which people create. Ethics assumes that the standards exist and
seeks to describe them, evaluate them, or evaluate the premises upon which
those standards exist. This is where the field of ethics is broken down into
Descriptive Ethics, Normative Ethics and Analytic Ethics (also called
Metaethics). 4 The basic questions asked in Ethics include:
What does it mean to be good? How can I differentiate good from evil?
Are morals objective or subjective?
Ethics, Morals, and Values
How do they relate?
One of the most important characteristics of moral judgments is that they
express our values. Not all expressions of values are also moral judgments,
but all moral judgments do express something about what we value. Thus,
understanding morality requires investigating what people value and why.
There are three principle types of values which humans can have:
preferential values, instrumental values and intrinsic values. Each plays an
important role in our lives, but they don't all play equal roles in the formation
of moral standards and moral norms.
Preference Value
The expression of preference is the expression of some value we hold. When
we say that we prefer to play sports, we are saying that we value that
activity. When we say that we prefer relaxing at home over being at work, we
are saying that we hold our leisure time more highly than our work time.
Most ethical theories do not place much emphasis on this type of value when
constructing arguments for particular actions being moral or immoral. The
one exception would be hedonistic ethical theories which explicitly place
such preferences at the center of moral consideration. Such systems argue
that those situations or activities which make us happiest are, in fact, the
ones we should morally choose.
Instrumental Value
When something is valued instrumentally, that means we only value it as a
means to achieve some other end which is, in turn, more important. Thus, if
my car is of instrumental value, that means that I only value it insofar as it
allows me to accomplish other tasks, such as getting to work or the store.
Instrumental values play an important role in teleological moral systems theories of morality which argue that the moral choices are those which lead
to the best possible consequences (such as human happiness). Thus, the
choice to feed a homeless person is considered a moral choice and is valued
not simply for its own sake but, rather, because it leads to some other good the well-being of another person.
Intrinsic Value
Something which has intrinsic value is valued purely for itself - it isn't used
simply as a means to some other end and it isn't simply "preferred" above
other possible options. This sort of value is the source of a great deal of
debate in moral philosophy because not all agree that such intrinsic values

actually exist. If intrinsic values do exist, how is it that they occur? Are they
like color or mass, a characteristic which we can detect so long as we use the
right tools? We can explain what produces the characteristics like mass and
color, but what would produce the characteristic of value? If people are
unable to reach any sort of agreement about the value of some object or
event, does that mean that its value, whatever it is, can't be intrinsic?
Instrumental vs. Intrinsic Values
One problem in ethics is, assuming that intrinsic values really do exist, how
do we differentiate them from instrumental values? That may seem simple at
first, but it isn't. Take, for example, the question of good health - that is
something which just about everyone values, but is it an intrinsic value?
Some might be inclined to answer "yes," but in fact people tend to value
good health because it allows them to engage in activities they like. So, that
would make good health an instrumental value. But are those pleasurable
activities intrinsically valuable? People often perform them for a variety of
reasons - social bonding, learning, to test their abilities, etc.
So, perhaps those activities are also instrumental rather than intrinsic values
- but what about the reasons for those activities? We could keep going on like
this for quite a long time. It seems that everything we value is something
which leads to some other value, suggesting that all of our values are, at
least in part, instrumental values. Perhaps there is no "final" value or set of
values and we are caught in a constant feed-back loop where things we
value continually lead to other things we value.
Values: Subjective or Objective?
Another debate in the field of ethics is the role humans play when it comes
to creating or assessing value. Some argue that value is a purely human
construction - or at least, the construction of any being with sufficiently
advanced cognitive functions. Should all such beings disappear from the
universe, then some things like mass would not change, but other things like
value would also disappear.
Others argue, however, that at least some forms of value (intrinsic values)
exist objectively and independently of any observer. Thus, our only role is in
recognizing the intrinsic value which certain objects of goods hold. We
might deny that they have value, but in such a situation we are either
deceiving ourselves or we are simply mistaken. Indeed, some ethical
theorists have argued that many moral problems could be resolved if we
could simply learn to better recognize those things which have true value
and dispense with artificially created values which distract us.
Descriptive, Normative and Analytic Ethics
Categorizing Ethics & Morality
The field of ethics is usually broken down into three different ways of thinking
about ethics: descriptive, normative and analytic. It isn't unusual for
disagreements in debates over ethics to arise because people are
approaching the topic from a different one of these three categories. Thus,
learning what they are and how to recognize them might save you some
grief later.

Descriptive Ethics The category of descriptive ethics is the easiest to

understand - it simply involves describing how people behave and/or
what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow. Descriptive ethics
incorporates research from the fields of anthropology, psychology,
sociology and history as part of the process of understanding what
people do or have believed about moral norms.
Normative Ethics The category of normative ethics involves creating
or evaluating moral standards. Thus, it is an attempt to figure out what
people should do or whether their current moral behavior is
reasonable. Traditionally, most of the field of moral philosophy has
involved normative ethics - there are few philosophers out there who
haven't tried their hand at explaining what they think people should do
and why.
Analytic Ethics (Metaethics) The category of analytic ethics, also
often referred to as metaethics, is perhaps the most difficult of the
three to understand. In fact, some philosophers disagree as to whether
or not it should be considered an independent pursuit, arguing that it
should instead be included under Normative Ethics. Nevertheless, it is
discussed independently often enough that it deserves its own
discussion here.
Examples Understanding the how the exact same ethical question can
be and is addressed in descriptive, normative and analytic ethics can
be difficult until you have had some practice, so here is a series of easy
examples which will help make the differences more clear.

Deontological, Teleological and Virtue Ethics

Types of Ethical Systems
Normative ethical systems can generally be broken down into three
categories: deontological, teleological and virtue ethics. The first two are
considered deontic or action-based theories of morality because they focus
entirely upon the actions which a person performs. When actions are judged
morally right based upon their consequences, we have teleological or
consequentialist ethical theory. When actions are judged morally right based
upon how well they conform to some set of duties, we have a deontological
ethical theory. Whereas these first two systems focus on the question "What
should I do?" the third asks an entirely different question: "What sort of
person should I be?" With this we have a virtue-based ethical theory - it
doesn't judge actions as right or wrong but rather the character of the
person doing the actions. The person, in turn, makes moral decisions based
upon which actions would make one a good person.

Deontology and Ethics Deontological moral systems are

characterized primarily by a focus upon adherence to independent
moral rules or duties. Thus, in order to make the correct moral choices,
we simply have to understand what our moral duties are and what
correct rules exist which regulate those duties. When we follow our
duty, we are behaving morally. When we fail to follow our duty, we are
behaving immorally.
Teleology and Ethics Teleological moral systems are characterized
primarily by a focus on the consequences which any action might have
(for that reason, they are often referred to as consequentalist moral
systems, and both terms are used here). Thus, in order to make correct
moral choices, we have to have some understanding of what will result
from our choices. When we make choices which result in the correct
consequences, then we are acting morally; when we make choices
which result in the incorrect consequences, then we are acting
immorally.
Virtue Ethics Virtue-based ethical theories place much less emphasis
on which rules people should follow and instead focus on helping
people develop good character traits, such as kindness and generosity.
These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the correct
decisions later on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for
people to learn how to break bad habits of character, like greed or
anger. These are called vices and stand in the way of becoming a good
person.
Ethics and Morality: Who Cares?
Does any of this really matter?
Why be concerned with moral theories and distinctions between different
types of moral theories? Why bother with some of the difficult questions
which are raised in metaethics? Everyone is brought up with some sort of
moral system, and it usually works out fairly well - isn't that enough? What's
the point of bothering further?
The point is that the "conventional" or "customary" morality which people
are brought up with is something those people too rarely thinks about very
carefully. Following a moral system blindly and without reflection is not a
method likely to result in a very moral person. Moreover, if this person is
suddenly faced with people from a different culture who have a very different
moral system, it won't be possible to handle it very well. The most likely
results will be extreme dogmatism, deep disillusionment, or even the
abandonment of morality entirely.
However, once a person does begin to reflect upon a moral system and look
more closely at its premises and inferences, then we are now in the realm of
ethics. Indeed, the very process of moral growth requires such reflection and
the attempt to find a path between extreme dogmatism and extreme
skepticism. Both moral maturity and moral autonomy require that a person

can reach moral conclusions on their own - and just as importantly, explain
and justify those moral decisions in a reasonable manner.
That is why it is important for people to be able to reason about their moral
beliefs and moral positions. Such reasoning requires, first, an understanding
about how to reason and use logic, and second, an understanding about how
morality and moral systems work. These are the sorts of skills and
information which a person needs in order reach a level of moral autonomy
sufficient to make them independent and functional.
Descriptive Ethics
What are our ethical values?
The category of descriptive ethics is the easiest to understand - it simply
involves describing how people behave and/or what sorts of moral standards
they claim to follow. Descriptive ethics incorporates research from the fields
of anthropology, psychology, sociology and history as part of the process of
understanding what people do or have believed about moral norms.
Anthropologists and sociologists can provide us with all sorts of information
about how societies past and present have structured moral standards and
how they have expected people to behave. Psychologists can study how a
person's conscience develops and how that person goes about actually
making moral choices in real or hypothetical situations. Descriptive ethics
also studies the codes of conduct created by professional organizations to
regulate the conduct of members.
Descriptive ethics is sometimes referred to as comparative ethics because so
much activity can involve comparing ethical systems: comparing the ethics
of the past to the present, comparing the ethics of one society to another
and comparing the ethics which people claim to follow with the actual rules
of conduct which do describe their actions.
Strictly speaking, then, descriptive ethics is not entirely a field within
philosophy - rather, it is more a specialty which involves many different fields
within the social sciences. It is not designed to provide guidance to people in
making moral decisions, nor is it designed to evaluate the reasonableness of
moral norms. Nevertheless, actual work in moral philosophy cannot proceed
very far without the knowledge gained from descriptive ethics. In short,
descriptive ethics asks these two questions:
1. What do people claim as their moral norms?
2. How do people actually behave when it comes to moral problems?
Here are some examples of statements from Descriptive Ethics:
1. Most Americans think that racism is wrong.
2. Among certain
homosexuality.

cultures,

there

is

no

stigma

attached

to

3. Stanley Milgram's study found a great discrepancy between what

people claimed and what they actually did.
Normative Ethics

What moral standards should we use?

The category of normative ethics is also relatively easy to understand - it
involves creating or evaluating moral standards. Thus, it is an attempt to
figure out what people should do or whether their current moral behavior is
reasonable. Traditionally, most of the field of moral philosophy has involved
normative ethics - there are few philosophers out there who haven't tried
their hand at explaining what they think people should do and why.
This process involves examining the moral standards people currently use in
order to determine if they are justifiable, as well as attempting to construct
new moral standards which might be better. In either case, the philosopher is
critically investigating the nature and grounds of moral standards, moral
principles, moral rules, and moral conduct.
The category of normative ethics also includes the entire field of Applied
Ethics. This field is the attempt to take insights from the work of philosophers
and theologians and apply them to real-world situations. For example,
bioethics is an important and growing aspect of applied ethics which involves
people working out the most moral decisions regarding issues like organ
transplants, genetic engineering, cloning, etc.
An issue falls under the category of applied ethics whenever:
1. There is general disagreement about the correct course of action. 2.
The choice involved is a specifically moral choice.
The first characteristic means that there must be some actual debate in
which different groups take opposing positions for what they consider good
reasons. Thus, abortion is a question of applied ethics in which people can
analyze the facts and values involved and arrive at some sort of conclusion
backed by arguments. On the other hand, deliberately placing a poison in the
water supply is not a question of applied ethics because there is no general
debate over whether or not such an action is wrong.
The second characteristic requires, obviously, that applied ethics only be
involved when we are facing moral choices. Not every controversial issue is
also a moral issue - for example, traffic laws and zoning codes may be the
basis for heated debate, but they rarely turn on questions of fundamental
moral values.
The ultimate goal of all of this is to show how it might be possible to develop
a consistent and reasonable system of moral rules which are valid for all
"moral agents." Philosophers often speak of "moral agents": a moral agent is
any being capable of understanding and acting upon some moral rule. Thus,
it isn't simply enough to answer a moral question, like "Is abortion wrong?" instead, normative ethics is involved with demonstrating that this and other
questions can be answered with consistency and in the context of some
general moral principles or rules.
In short, normative ethics addresses questions like the following:
What should be our moral obligations? What is Right and what is Wrong?
What should be our moral values? What is Good and what is Evil?

Here are some examples of statements from Normative Ethics:

1. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Golden Rule)
2. Act as if the maxim of your action was to become through your will
a universal law of nature. (Kant's Categorical Imperative)
3. That which God wills is the Good.
Analytic Ethics (Metaethics)
Evaluating our premises
The category of analytic ethics, also often referred to as metaethics, is
perhaps the most difficult of the three to understand. In fact, some
philosophers disagree as to whether or not it should be considered an
independent pursuit, arguing that it should instead be included under
Normative Ethics. Nevertheless, it is discussed independently often enough
that it deserves its own discussion here.
Basically, metaethics involves reasoning about the presuppositions behind
the moral systems developed under the category of normative ethics.
Whenever a moral system is created, it is based upon certain premises about
reality, human nature, values, etc. Metaethics is all about questioning the
validity of those premises and arguing that perhaps we don't really know
what we are talking about after all.
The first key aspect of metaethics is one which can also be annoying for
many: semantic discussions. In order to understand the nature of morality, it
can be very important to better understand how people should and do use
key words like good, evil, moral, etc. This isn't the simple issue it might
appear. Some have argued that the entire field of ethics has gone wrong
because of misunderstandings about how people use moral language.
According to one view, called emotivism, the statement "murder is wrong"
does not actually express an objective claim about the world. It is, instead, a
negative emotional reaction to the act of murder - not entirely unlike a cry of
pain. Such an expression might be characterized as appropriate or
inappropriate, but it cannot be characterized as either true or false any more
than a laugh can be true or false. Thus, when I say "X is immoral," I am not
just expressing my emotional reaction to X, but I am also trying to get you to
share that reaction with me.
The reason why some question whether or not metaethics should it be its
own pursuit is because many feel that these questions should already have
been discussed and debated as part of the development of the moral system
in question. However, philosophers spend enough time discussing these
questions independent of any specific moral system that this objection is not
as strong as it seems.
Analytic ethics asks quite a lot of questions, including:
How are moral judgments even possible? Why be moral at all? Do
moral values exist objectively or only subjectively? Are moral values
relative to something, like culture or individuals? Can morality exist

independently of religion? Do people have a free will which would make

moral judgments possible?
Ethics: Descriptive, Normative and Analytic
Examples
Here are a couple of examples which should help make the difference
between descriptive, normative and analytic ethics even more clear.
1. Descriptive: Different societies have different moral standards.
2. Normative: This action is wrong in this society, but it is right in
another.
3. Analytic: Morality is relative.
All of these statements are about ethical relativism, the idea that moral
standards differ from person to person or from society to society.
In descriptive ethics, it is simply observed that different societies have
different standards - this is a true and factual statement which offers no
judgments or conclusions.
In normative ethics, a conclusion is drawn from the observation made above,
namely that some action is wrong in one society and is right in another.
This is a normative claim because it goes beyond simply observing that this
action is treated as wrong in one place and treated as right in another. In
analytic ethics, an even broader conclusion is drawn from the above, namely
that the very nature of morality is that it is relative. This position argues that
there are no moral standards independent of our social groups, and hence
whatever a social group decides is right is right and whatever it decides is
wrong is wrong - there is nothing "above" the group to which we can appeal
in order to challenge those standards.
1. Descriptive: People tend to make decisions which bring pleasure or
avoid pain.
2. Normative: The moral decision is that which enhances well-being
and limits suffering.
3. Analytic: Morality is simply a system for helping humans stay happy
and alive.
All of these statements refer to the moral philosophy commonly known as
utilitarianism.
The first, from descriptive ethics, simply makes the observation that when it
comes to making moral choices, people have a tendency to go with whatever
option makes them feel better or, at the very least, they avoid whichever
option causes them problems or pain. This observation may or may not be
true, but it does not attempt to derive any conclusions as to how people
should behave.
The second statement, from normative ethics, does attempt to derive a
normative conclusion - namely, that the most moral choices are those which
tend to enhance our well-being, or at the very least limit our pain and

suffering. This is represents an attempt to create a moral standard, and as

such, must be treated differently from the observation made previously.
The third statement, from analytic ethics, draws yet a further conclusion
based upon the previous two, this one about the very nature of morality
itself. Instead of arguing, as in the previous example, that morals are all
relative, this one makes a claim about the purpose of morals - namely, that
moral exist simply to keep us happy and alive.