Final answer:
Ethics refers to the principles that help determine whether decisions are right or wrong. These principles emerge from the study of normative ethics and are applied through frameworks like consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ethics are the principles of conduct that are used to judge whether decisions are right or wrong.
These principles provide the foundation for determining the moral value of human actions.
In normative ethics, different frameworks such as consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics may be applied to assess the morality of decisions.
Consequentialism evaluates the outcomes, deontology emphasizes duty adherence, and virtue ethics considers the character of the individual.
Normative ethics delves into questions of moral behavior, aiming to establish criteria or principles that guide correct action.
While metaethics focuses on the foundations and language of ethical theories, applied ethics applies these principles to specific issues.
The field of ethics is not purely subjective; it relies on reasoned argument and sometimes comparisons with moral frameworks in efforts like those found in global organizations such as the United Nations.