How is descriptive business ethics different from normative business ethics?

Answer 1

Descriptive theory explains how things are (e.g., this paper is white; most Americans eat meat; etc.), whereas normative or prescriptive theory tells us how things ought to be (people ought to be honest, etc.). Ethics is about what ought to be, not what is. We simply would not need to consider what we ought to do if we always did it as a matter of course. Since we are focusing on morality and ethics, we are concerned with what morally ought to be the case. All ethical theories use various normative ethical principles in assessing or justifying actions and behavior. To be practical and beneficial, ethical discourse must use understandings, procedures, and judgment criteria that all rational people who are concerned with morality and ethics must affirm. We need to understand that ethical principles must be the ground rules for our moral decision-making-they should not simply be factors we take into consideration.