Major Project 1 (Incomplete)
MINOR PROJECT 1 IS DUE: THE LAST DAY OF WEEK 1 OF PERIOD 2 (Week 3 of the course)
Normative Ethicsis a category of ethical theories that focuses on how we ought to live. Normative theories are commonly grouped as: virtue theories, duty (or deontological) theories, and consequential (or teleological) theories.
A. Write an introduction that 1.) explains normative ethics and 2.) explains the purpose of your paper.
B. For each subcategory above (virtue, duty, consequential),
1. Explain the category
2. Explain 3 theories for each subcategory (no less than 9 total theories explained in the project)
3. Explain how each of the 9 theories aligns or does not align with a Christian perspective. The proper way to write this is to explain the theory and then write how it aligns or does not align with a Christian perspective before you explain the next theory. Alignment should be based on research and biblical support. You will lose 10 points for each theory if this is only based on your interpretation of scripture or your opinion.
Example of one theory that is a consequential:
Consequential theories are defined…
Utilitarianism is ….
It aligns with a Christian perspective…
C. Write a conclusion
**
Make sure to transition between each paragraph.
Write paper in APA format.
1. Cover page should have a Running head: and page number
2. Page 2 should be an abstract (An abstract is not an introduction. It should be written in your own words and explain the purpose of the paper). [Running head beginning on this page should change]
3. References should be formatted correctly following APA guidelines.
Useheadingsfor each theory following APA guidelines.
*Note: An internet search of any theory and Christian perspective will provide the needed research for this paper.
Paper should be between 8 and 12 double spaced pages. The page count does not include title page, abstract, nor references. Do not add extra spacing or lines between paragraphs or sections. APA has strict formatting guidelines that you must follow such as all of the margins should be 1″. Do not make margins any larger than 1″. Paper should have no less than 15 references. The Bible does not count as a reference and should not be written in the reference section.
**Plagiarism is serious and may result in a zero even if it is unintentional.All work will be checked for plagiarism during grading. Students are expected to properly paraphrase information using in-text citations. Directly quoted information must have both quotation marksandan in-text citation. As a graduate student, you must demonstrate your understanding of the material byproperlyparaphrasing information and rarely quoting information. Changing or deleting a few words in a sentence may still constitute plagiarism make sure you understand plagiarism!
Normative Ethics Theories
Ethics is a moral philosophy that examines right and wrong in the context of behavior and one’s thought process. Ethics and morality are nearly synonymous (Singer, P., 2020). Nevertheless, ethics has many different subcategories in which one can govern their decisions according to moral philosophy. The three main categories of ethics are metaethics, applied ethics and normative ethics (Fieser, 2002). Each category aims to understand ethics as a whole from a different point of view. Metaethics focuses on the origin of our moral principles and conduct. It simply studies the basic foundation of our morality and looks at the bigger picture. According to Crash Course (2016), this form of ethics focuses solely on questions like What is morality? and What is its nature in the world?. Applied ethics refers to how morality relates to real-world scenarios such as abortion, animal rights or captial murder (Fieser, 2002). This form of ethics considers questions revolving around disciplinary fields such as medicine, law, and business (Applied Ethics, n.d) . Essentially, applied ethics helps us to understand mortality as it relates to what is right and wrong within these fields. The center of this paper will be around the last category of ethics, normative ethics. This category of ethics focuses solely on right versus wrong.
As stated, normative ethics is a form of ethics that in term that also focuses on what is morally right or wrong just as any other category of ethics. However, this form of ethics takes a deeper look into the direct implications of how human actions and institutions should be (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). In a sense, normative ethics provide a framework for how we are to live, act, and what kind of person we should strive to be (Kagan, S., 2018). It is an exploration of favorable behavior by a person according to morality. Normative ethics is broken down into three subcategories: virtue, duty and consequentialist. Through an analysis of the various subcategories of normative ethics, this paper will discuss how normative ethics relates to the Christian perspective by a breakdown of each category’s alignment with Chrristian ethics.
Virtue Ethics
The virtue theory of ethics can be defined as a form of ethics that emphasizes the moral character of a person and their actions (Hursthouse & Pettigrove, 2016). When operating through the lens of a virtuous person, one takes into consideration the question of What kind of person should I be? (University, 1988). Virtue ethics exercises the use of virtues such as honesty, courage, compassion, and integrity (University, 1988). This theory does not spend a lot of time telling you what to do; Nevertheless, those who are virtuous know exactly how to respond to various situations at all times (Crash Course, 2016). They are like the poster children for morality because they have an innate understanding of right and wrong. Through this theory, becoming a good person relies on a midpoint between two extremes (So, Y. S., & Youn-Kyung, K., 2018). For example, a person who is courageous possesses a perfect combination of cowardness and recklessness (Crash Course, 2016). There are different forms of virtue ethics that all trace back to the underlying concept of an innate sense of right and wrong; However, they differ in how they combine these understandings to help guide how we live our lives (Hursthouse & Pettigrove, 2016).
Eudaimonism
Eudaimonism is derived from the Ancient Greek word Eudaimonia (Hursthouse & Pettigrove, 2016). This translates to happiness (Athanassoulis, 2002) and a life well lived (Crash Course, 2016). It is the idea that moral behavior will in turn lead to one’s own flourishing (Porter, J., 2019, p. 30). By being morally just our individual desires have the room to thrive. Thus, enhancing our overall satisfaction of life. This category of virtue ethics focuses on ensuring you live life to its fullest potential by being the best version of yourself (Crash Course, 2016) while exercising excellent virtue (Couenhoven, J., 2019). Aristotle, an ancient greek philosopher, is one of the important figures of Eudaimonism and Virtue ethics as a whole. He claims that every human feat is grounded in some sort of good with that good being eudaimonia, happiness (Athanassoulis, 2002). Therefore, our actions are overall results of our attempt to be virtuous people in all our endeavours linking eudaimonia and virtue on the bases of character traits (Hursthouse & Pettigrove, 2016). If we are able to commit ourselves to being successful and virtuous people we will have a fulfilled life. According to Hursthouse & Pettigrove (2016), life dedicated to physical satisfaction and the need for wealth is a wasted life because it does not constitute genuine happiness. Eudaimonism seeks to find the best genuine happiness. It creates a world of possibilities for obtaining ones hopes and dreams (Porter, J, 2019).
Eudaimonism, to many Christian authors, does not align with the Christian perspective.
So, Y. S., & Youn-Kyung, K. (2018). Theory of virtue ethics: Do consumers good traits predict their socially responsible consumption?: JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(4), 1159-1175. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1007/s10551-016-3331-3
Crash Course
Crash Course. (2016, December 5). Aristotle & Virtue Theory: Crash Course Philosophy #38 [Video]. YouTube.
Porter, J. (2019, February 19).Eudaimonism and Christian Ethics .Journal of Religious Ethics, Inc., 47(1).
https://doi-org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1111/jore.12256
Couenhoven, J. (2019). Eudaimonism, Virtue, and SelfSacrifice. Journal of Religious Ethics, 47(1), 714.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.regent.edu/10.1111/jore.12247
Applied ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Applied_ethics
Athanassoulis, N. (2002). Virtue Ethics. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://iep.utm.edu/virtue/
DeLapp, K. (2002). Metaethics. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://iep.utm.edu/metaethi/
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020, May 21). Normative ethics. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/normative-ethics
Fieser, J. (2002). Ethics. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://iep.utm.edu/ethics/
Hursthouse, R., & Pettigrove, G. (2016, December 08). Virtue Ethics. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue/
Kagan, S. (2018). Normative Ethics. Retrieved September 22, 2020, from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en
University, S. (1988). Ethics and Virtue. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/ethics-and-virtue/
