Normative Ethics

This week’s assignment was to pick one of the three categories of normative ethics that seem the most reasonable. Normative ethics is the way in which one makes decisions, and there are three different types of normative ethics. As I was reading through the three types of normative ethics, I seemed to be agreeing with small parts of two of the positions. Duty based ethics and virtue ethics are both positions that I seemed to agree with, until digging deeper into these terms.

Duty-based ethics can be defined as following the rules set in front of you and feeling that it is your obligation to follow them. These rules can be following the laws of this country or the Ten Commandments. I view this as following the simplest of rules, even when you think it’s silly to do so. I actually have done this multiple times because I know that’s just the way it is and it’s probably easier to just follow that rule than to not follow it. This way of thinking about duty-based ethics, from my understanding, is also how Immanuel Kant viewed it. His take on duty-based ethics is that you still follow the rules even if you do not desire to. A simple example of this that I personally experience is crossing at the crosswalk. Most of the time there is a more efficient way to cross the street rather than using the crosswalk. I use it because I know that’s the law even when it isn’t the most efficient path to my destination.

Virtue ethics is the other position of normative ethics that I think I can somewhat agree with. Virtue ethics is more about your own character and how the actions that you produce should reflect your character. Plato’s take on this position is that you must have specific characteristics that are considered good. Plato also thought there are specific vices, which are bad characteristics, that you should avoid. This part of virtue ethics is where I actually realized that I do not find it the most reasonable. I think there are a lot of characteristics that can be good or bad, and it depends on that person’s demonstration of that specific characteristic. An example of this is being protective. A mother can protect their child from the world’s dangers, but another mother can be so protective that their child never gets to enjoy his/her own life.

For me, I choose to follow all the rules because, as I have been told multiple times, I am a rule follower. I feel that the rules are there for a reason, and I need to abide by them. The Bible also tells us to follow the Ten Commandments, which is siding with duty-based ethics. So I would say that my decision are mostly made with duty-based ethics. I recognize that the rules are important and if I don’t follow them I am not only setting a bad example for others, but I am also another person disobeying the law.