Normative ethics involves arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. In a sense, it is a search for an
ideal test of proper behavior. The Golden Rule is a classic example of a normative principle: We should do to others what we would want others to do to us. Since I do not want my neighbor to steal my car, then it is wrong for me to steal his car. Since I would want people to feed me if I was starving, then I should help feed starving people. Using this same reasoning, I can theoretically determine whether any possible action is right or wrong. So, based on the Golden Rule, it would also be
wrong for me to lie to, harass, victimize, assault, or kill others. The Golden Rule is an example of a normative theory that establishes a single principle against which we judge all actions. Other normative theories focus on a set of foundational principles, such as moral rights to life, liberty, and happiness.
The key assumption in normative ethics is that there is only one ultimate criterion of moral conduct, whether it is a single rule or a set of principles. Unfortunately,
philosophers do not agree about what precisely that criterion is. Over the centuries, hundreds of theories have been offered, each claiming to be the ultimate guide. Proponents of these theories also devote much time to rejecting rival theories. For example, most normative ethicists reject the Golden Rule in the above form. If I am a masochist then, according to the Golden Rule, it is morally permissible for me to inflict pain on other people. But inflicting pain on others is clearly wrong,
hence the Golden Rule fails as the ultimate criterion of morality. In spite of the quantity of normative theories available for consideration, many theories involve common strategies that we can classify. The three main strategies are:
(1) virtue theory
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