ABSTRACT
Ethics is generally divided into metaethics and normative ethics. ‘The term ‘‘metaethics’’ implies that we are not taking part in the practice of ethics itself, but rather reflecting on the practice, as if from a different level from which we can view it as a whole, and see what is going on, when people are, say, arguing about rights and wrongs of eating meat.’1 normative ethics on the other hand seeks to directly influence actions. When we condemn people for breaking promises, the killing of animals, and stealing, and thus make judgments about right and wrong actions, there is a kind of activity, which we describe as making normative judgments. When moral philosophers raise basic issues about the nature of such moral judgments, whether they are based on facts or logical reasoning, subjective or objective and so on, they are engaging in metaethical reflections. Thus in metaethics we are asking basic questions about ethics, rather than participating in the process of reasoning and making decisions about good and bad and right and wrong. As normative ethics has an impact on our day-to-day decisions which have moral implications, as well as the larger conceptions of a good life that guide us, it is necessary that we understand the nature of such judgments and the theoretical perspectives in which they are rooted.
