Which branch examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions?

Which branch examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions?

• A. Descriptive Ethics
• B. Normative Ethics
• C. Duty
• D. Supererogatory Acts

Answer: (B)

Normative ethics deals with what we ought to do. It investigates which actions are right or wrong and the standards that guide moral judgment—principles, duties, rights, and virtues that count as reasons to act. This makes it the field that directly examines the standards by which actions are judged. Descriptive ethics, in contrast, describes what people actually think and do about morality, not what they ought to do. Duty is a specific obligation within some normative theories, not the branch itself. Supererogatory acts are actions that go beyond what duty requires, a topic you’d discuss within normative ethics, but not the branch name itself. So the correct approach is normative ethics.

Normative ethics deals with what we ought to do. It investigates which actions are right or wrong and the standards that guide moral judgment—principles, duties, rights, and virtues that count as reasons to act. This makes it the field that directly examines the standards by which actions are judged. Descriptive ethics, in contrast, describes what people actually think and do about morality, not what they ought to do. Duty is a specific obligation within some normative theories, not the branch itself. Supererogatory acts are actions that go beyond what duty requires, a topic you’d discuss within normative ethics, but not the branch name itself. So the correct approach is normative ethics.