Final answer:
Normative ethics is a branch of philosophy that establishes criteria for identifying norms and standards of moral conduct, providing practical guidelines for correct behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
Normative ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with determining which actions are right and wrong, and it provides practical guidelines or norms for correct behavior. It focuses on questions of human agency, responsibility, and moral evaluation, aiming to establish criteria or principles for identifying norms and standards of moral conduct. Normative ethics can be approached from three main perspectives: consequentialist, deontological, and virtue ethics, each of which uses a different criterion (consequences, duty, or character) to determine moral conduct.