PHIL 435 Lecture Notes - Normative Ethics, Ethical Egoism, John Stuart Mill
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An ethical norm is a moral or ethical principle. A normative ethical theory is a theory that attempts to specify correct moral principles. Toward this end, normative ethical theories attempt to answer the following basic questions: To illustrate, consider the theory called ethical egoism. Ethical egoism holds that what makes an action right is that it is in your self-interest. Any action that is in your self-interest is morally right. Now, i don"t think this is a correct moral principle. (can you think of counterexamples to it?). 1 aims of a normative ethical theory is. The theory purports to tell us what makes actions right (or wrong). In doing so, the theory provides us with a moral principle, which we can then use as a basis for arguments about what is morally right (or wrong). Look carefully at the structure of this argument . The principle stated in premise 1 tells us what feature makes an action right.
