BASIC THEORIES OF NORMATIVE ETHICS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MORALITY AND JUDGEMENT OF HUMAN ACTIONS

Résumé

As regards human behaviour and conduct, there are theories in ethics that serve as yardsticks for evaluating the rightness or wrongness of our actions, as well as other questions these theories pose for us. These theories are grouped under theories of normative ethics.  This paper aims to show the implications of these theories for the morality and judgment of human actions. This study applies the analytical method to show the implications of these theories for the morality and judgment of human actions.  This research studies the theories of normative ethics- Determinism, Free-Will Theory (libertarianism), Deontology, Consequentialism, and virtue ethical theory, and some of the questions they pose for us.  Questions such as the basis for the rightness or wrongness of human actions. These theories, replete with certain strengths and weaknesses, can offer us some guidance in our approach to our moral judgment of human actions and behaviours. In conclusion, it is only by a good understanding of these theories and their implications for ethical judgment that one can properly evaluate the morality of human actions.