Normative Ethics

Normative Ethics

• explores the issues and questions related to how an individual should act morally

Ethical theories

• play a crucial role in making informed decisions by providing structured frameworks

Consequentialism

• moral value of an action or decision should be judge based on its consequence

• outcome based and is impartial

Utilitarianism

• the most well known form of consequentialism

• advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and oppose actions that cause unhappiness or harm

Hedonism

• philosophical theory that emphasizes pleasure as the highest good and ultimate aim of human life

Non-consequentialism

• judges actions based on rules, duties, or intrinsic morality, regardless of the consequences. An action is right or wrong based on principles, not outcomes

Act Utilitarianism

• The act of an individual is morally right if the action will result everyone into happiness

• action is analyzed based on the consequences

Rule Utilitarianism

action is concluded as right or wrong based on whetherthey follow the moralrules

Jeremy Bentham

• English philosopher and political radical

• the founder of utilitarianism

Principle of Utility

• “The greatest happiness of the greatest number”

• core idea of Bentham’s Utilitarianism

Legal Reforms

aimed at promoting the greatest good or the best possible outcomes for society

Social Reforms

changing societal structures, norms, or practices to bring about better outcomes

John Stuart Mills

• most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century

Mill’s Utilitarianism

• theory that states that pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things that are desirable

• people should pursue their own happiness as long as it doesn't harm others

Harm Principle

• People have a freedom to do or express such things however there is a limitation