2.

0 NORMATIVE ETHICS AND META ETHICS

Normative ethics attempts to provide justified basis for how people should live their lives and meta

ethics aims to define the meaning of terms “good”, “bad”, “right” and “wrong” and to determine

how people can know what is “the right thing to do” (Bowie & Schneider, 2011).

2.1 Normative ethics

The aim of normative ethics is to define the accepted morals – the principles that people use when

they attempt to do the right thing. According to Hakala et al., (2010), normative ethics can be

divided into two main categories according to their emphasis; teleological theories and

deontological theories.

2.1.1 Teleological theories

Teleological theory was derived from a Greek Word Telos meaning end.

The theory holds that events and development are meant to achieve a purpose.

It holds that the rightness of action is determined mainly by the amount of good consequences.

It holds that actions are justified by the ends they achieve (Malloy & Fennell, 1998; Fennell, 2006;

Weeden, 2008; Lovelock & Lovelock, 2013). This defines the need for purposes in an

organization.

Teleological theory is in the goal of one’s actions by which the goodness or badness of the choices

is judged (Macdonald & Beck-Dudley, 1994). An example of teleological theory is the theory of

utilitarianism which holds that our obligation and duty in any situation is to perform the action that

will result in the greatest possible balance of good/evil. Components of this theory includes;

a) Consequentialism

These theories emphasize on the consequences of the actions. If the consequences are good, the

action is morally right and if they are bad, the action is morally wrong.
So according to these theories some particular action e.g. lying can be morally right or wrong –

depending on the consequence. Commonly consequentialism separates intended consequences

from the actual ones – if a man gets shoot accidently it can’t be held as bad as if it was done

deliberately (Hakala et al., 2010, 108).

This theory holds that the rightness of an action is determined mainly by their consequences. For

instance, a supplier to a hotel/tourism industry may hold a commodity in the hope that he/she will

sell it when the demand is high/ during the high season and therefore get high profits.

b) Maximalism

This principle holds that a right action is one that has not merely some general consequences but

the greatest amount of good consequences is also taken into consideration. Example, a factory that

manufactures detergents will pollute the environment in the course of its operations though

management will justify this by saying there is greater end of product which has more important

utility.

c) Universalism

This principle holds that the consequences to be considered are those that affect everyone e.g.

where a production manager who works for overtime in order to have increased production so as

to return the company back to its normal operations.

d) Hedonism

This principle hold that the rightness of an action is that which produces pleasure and leisure and

no pain e.g. a tourism entrepreneur who operates a bar within an estate will have residents complain

of noise from the bar or immorality that the night club will provide within the neighbourhood. The

bar entrepreneur will justify his action by claiming that the bar will provide pleasure and leisure

and no pain.
NB: The theory assumes that people are constant seekers of pleasure and avoiders of unpleasant

stimuli. Therefore, according to the theory, human motives (including those associated with

tourism) can be understood with reference to whether the individual is moving towards pleasurable

outcomes and consequences and/or avoiding unpleasant ones.

Advantages of Teleological Theories

 They agree with our ordinary moral reasoning

 They explain the justification for various actions e.g. lying

 They provide an objective method for moral decision making i.e. the end justifies

the mean

2.1.2 Deontological theories

The word deontology comes from the Greek word Deon which means duty.

Deontological theories highlight the human rights and obligations. Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804)

moral philosophy is probably the best known of these theories.

Kant’s philosophy was grounded in the notion that all people are rational beings and able to reason

and perform complicated intellectual tasks.

The theory holds that certain actions are right because of some benefits to ourselves or others not

because of the nature of the action or from rules from which they follow.

In other words, this theory focuses on the preservation of individual rights and of the intentions

associated with a particular behaviour rather than on its consequences (Macdonald & Beck-

Dudley, 1994).

Fundamental to the deontological theory is idea that equal respect must be given to all persons.

The theory looks at the moral obligation of rational beings.

utility. For example, deontologists would consider it wrong to kill an innocent person or commit

a serious injustice against a person no matter how much utility results from doing so because such

action will infringe on a person’s right as an individual.

The theory looks at actions which create greater utility e.g. if a worker falls ill or dies as a result

of poor working conditions, a deontologist may say that the work environment be improved no

matter what the cost even if the company will be bankrupt and even lose their jobs.

Advantages of deontological theories

 They make sense of cases where consequences seem irrelevant e.g. honouring of contracts

even if the cost is high.

 They account for the roles of motives in evaluating actions i.e. the motive of an action is

used to gauge the action.

Deontologists believe that individuals have some certain absolute rights as follows;

1) Freedom of conscience

2) Freedom of consent

3) Freedom of privacy

4) Freedom of speech

5) Due process (justice)

NB: Teleological philosophies consider the end associated with the action whereas deontology

philosophies consider the means to a particular action.

Meta ethics attempt to understand the underlying assumptions behind moral theories. It covers a

broad range of questions surrounding how we know what moral truth is (and even if moral truth

exists), and how we learn about moral facts. It examines the nature of morals – the language,

values, and norms - without making any moral statements (Sanna, 2012). The basic questions of

meta ethics deal with the existence of morals, intellectual position of morals and the special

features of language when talking about morals.

According to Hakala et al., (2010, 146), central theories of meta ethics are:

Moral relativism; claims that morals is a true phenomenon which is not dependent on people

believes (Hakala et al., 2010, 146).

Anti-relativism; claims that moral claims are false (Ruokonen, 2007).

Cognitivism; believes that moral claims represent facts and therefore it is possible to gain

information about morals (Hakala et al., 2010, 146).

Non-cognitivism; sees that moral claims are false and moral issues are not intellectual (Hakala et

al., 2010).

Naturalism; claims that moral features are true just like scientific facts (Ruokonen, 2007).

Supernaturalism; believes that some supernatural source is the base of morals (Hakala et al., 2010,

146).

Moore’s intuitionism; claims that moral knowledge will be gained thru intuition. “Good” is a

simple, undefined concept of morals. The “naturalistic fallacy” Means the attempt to define “good”

through some other features. (Ruokonen, 2007)

Emotivism; deals with moral usage. Moral claims have no intellectual content; They express

attitude and try to influence the audience (Ruokonen, 2007)

Universal and supreme (Hakala et al., 2010, 146).

NB Normative ethics prescribes how people should act and meta ethics studies ethical

Terms and theories.

Recommended Reading for Students

Bowie, N. E. & Schneider, M. 2011. Business Ethics for Dummies. Wiley Publishing,
Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana.
Jeanette. M (2015). The Role of Ethics on Tourist Destination Image Formation: An Analysis of
the French Student Travel Market. Business administration. Université Nice Sophia Antipolis.
Sanna. K. (2012). Ethics in family tourism. Master’s thesis DP in tourism [Link]-
HELIA- University of applied sciences.