Answer to Question #307329 in Philosophy for Zee

Question

What, according to your understanding, is the goal of ethics? In your answer, refer to the difference between descriptive and normative ethics as well as give a description of the three ethical theories that you have encountered – deontology, virtue ethics, and teleological ethics

Answer 1

It is the discernment of right from wrong actions to others, ethics separates that which is morally good from what is morally bad.It also devises the principles by means of which conducting a life worth to be lived. There are two main types of ethics; normative and descriptive ethics. The main difference between normative ethics and descriptive ethics is that normative ethics analyses how people ought to act whereas descriptive ethics analyses what people think is right.

Three main theories of ethics

Teleological ethics- theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved.

Deontological ethics- The idea is that “human beings should be treated with dignity and respect because they have rights.” In other words it could be argued that “people have a duty to respect other people’s rights and treat them accordingly.” The core concept behind this is that there are objective obligations, or duties, that are required of all people. 

Virtue ethics- This philosophy stems from Aristotle and is based on the virtues of the person making a decision. The consideration in virtue ethics is essentially “what makes a good person,” or, for the purpose of this discussion, “what makes a good public relations professional?” Virtue ethics require the decision-maker to understand what virtues are good for public relations and then decisions are made in light of those particular virtues