descriptive and non descriptive
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NORMATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE
STATEMENTS
MORAL EDUCATION 1
MR 1351 D
PROGRAM PERSEDIAAN IJAZAHSARJANA MUDA PERGURUAN
PENGAJIAN CINA
AMBILAN JULAI 2010
Tengku Zahiri Tengku Abd Wahab
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Normative and Descriptive
V.Grassian (1981) says that attempts to givecoherent or logical, systematic and justifiableanswers to moral questions are callednormative ethics
Moral ethics focuses on normative statementswhich have implications on human behaviour
Hence normativestatements is a value
judgement that is good or bad, wrong orcorrect,acceptable or unacceptable.
Example : Abortion is a normative statement
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Normative ethics differ from philosophicalstudies about morals, which contain a
statement on the meaning and logic of morallanguage (V.Grassian 1981)
A normative statement is usually in the form
of value judgementThere are various types of moral judgements
or ethics (W.K Frankena 1973)
Moral judgements can be divided into eitherspecial or general
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In a moral judgements we can say that a
certain action or type of action is morallygood or bad, correct or wrong, obligatory ornon-obligatory, necessary or unnecessary tocarry out
Such a judgementis called a judgement ofmoral obligation or deontic judgement
We can discuss matters that are not actionsnor types of action concerning persons, their
motives,aims, behavioural traits or nature
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Similarly we can also say there are morallygood, bad, virtuous, vicious, responsible,blameworthy, saintly,despicable and so on
Evaluation of this sort is called moral valuejudgement or aretaic judgement
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Normative statements : Deontic and Aretaic judgements
Normativestatementsaboutdeeds/actions
Good/Bad
Correct/Wrong
Obligatory/NotObligatory
Necessary/Unnecessary
Judgements ofMoralobligation(Deontic
judgement)
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NormativeStatementsabout
people,theirmotives,aims,behaviour/nature
Good/BadNoble/WickedResponsible/Bl
ameworthySaintly/Despicable
Judgements ofMoral Values(Aretaic
judgements)
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Consider this example : The public should
not buy and sell shares with the intention ofgambling
This statement is an example of of deonticjudgementbecause gambling is a matter or
practice that is unacceptable in the eyes ofthe law or religion
As people with morals, the public is advisednot to buy and sell shares with a desire togamble but the way and the desire aremorally unacceptable
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Hence, it is obligatory that we dot not getourselves involved in gambling
An example of a normative statement witharetaic judgement is : A smart investor will
not gamble in the buying and selling of
sharesThis statement actually evaluates and
discusses the personality of a smart investor,connecting him to the way he invests in the
stock market ; that he does not gamble whenhe engages in share buying-selling activities
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We can make assumption that this investor
perhaps only deals in strong share countersand that he probably feels more secure andprofitable to do so
This practice is consideration smartand
doest not constitute gamblingThis statement ofaretaic judgementdoes not
touch on a persons obligation, it merely
evaluates moral attributes, i.e the nongambling smartness of an investor
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Normative statements do not also involvemoral value judgements
Value judgements of the non-moral domainevaluate matters other than those mentionedearlier
They maybe connected withcars,art,experience, forms of government, etc
We can say whether these are good or bad,necessary or unnecessary
We do not intend to say they are morallygood or bad. In other word they are free frommoral values
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1. Normative Statements with moral judgements
Special GeneralJudgement of MoralObligation (Deontic
judgements orobligations)
I do not like to despiseanyoneYou need to be adedicated teacherWhat Ahmad has done iswrong
We need to keep ourpromiseAll dictators deceivetheir peopleAll human beings needthe right to freedom
Moral Valuejudgements (Aretaicjudgements)
My father is a kind-hearted penghuluHe is always responsiblein his work
You ought to be fined
A good person doesnot cheatJealousy is an ignoblemotive
Benovelence is anoble quality
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2. Normative statements with non-moral Judgements
Special GeneralJudgement of MoralObligation (Deontic
judgements orobligations)
You need to be a newpair of shoesYou only need to buytickets for this concertYou really shouldsleep earlier
To make a table, youuse nail, not scoth tapeA good method is tosend troops into thebattlefieldTo answer correctly,candidates must readthe questions carefully
Moral Value judgements(Aretaic judgements)
That car is goodHis life is not happy
I did not brush myteeth in the correct way
Pleasure is good initself
Democracy is the bestform of governmentSweet food is nothealthy
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Apart from normative statements with moral
and non-moral judgement, we have justdiscussed we can identify normativestatements which directly affect humanbehaviour. For example : Wives cannot keep
secrets from their husbands; therefore a wifemust tell her husband all matters concerningherself
We also have normative statements in the
form of direction or orders, i.e to direct ororder an individual or the public to obey law,e..Parents must be respected
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Non Normative statements are known asdescriptive statements and they are not
concerned with judgement of moral valuesFor example : In Malaysia, reshuffling the
cabinet is the prerogative of the PrimeMinister
This is a descriptive statement which is value-neutral
It merely explains a fact pertaining to the
situation in Malaysia without any moraljudgement
It is factual and do not relate to any valuejudgement
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Sometimes we can change a non-normativestatement into a normative statement about
the same matter as below :
No. Matter Non-Normative Normative
1 General
Election
Fewer people registering
as voters
Good citizens must
register as voter
2 Suicide Suicide case hasincreased
Killing oneself as apersonal sacrife ispermitted
3 Pornography Pornography tarnishes lifein campus Pornography is banned incampus
4 Parents Parents have authority inthe family
Always obey the orders ofyour parents
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