Best Answer
Normative theory provides an absolutist framework for approaching philosophy and the soft sciences, and has a special application in philosophy, law, and the social sciences. Normative theory states that some things are morally superior to other things. They are concerned with right or wrong and have a goal of changing institutions, values, or norms to reflect the “right” or “good” perspective. Obviously, since normative theory focuses on what is good, it also involves moral judgments of what is bad.
To understand normative theory, it may help to think about the concept of sin. Even if you are approaching normative theory from a non-religious perspective, the reality is that most societies have certain taboos. Moreover, many of the same taboos appears in religiously and culturally distinct societies, even though they may be expressed in different ways. For example, almost all cultures have taboos against incest, though they may differ in which relationships they consider incestuous. Likewise, most cultures have taboos against murder, though they may differ in regard to which killings they consider murder.
One of the hallmarks of a normative approach is that the bold assertion does not rely on a supporting underlying claim. Take, for example, the prohibition against murder. The normative statement that murder is bad does not require a logical foundation. In fact, it may not even be supported by a logical foundation. While murder is certainly bad for the victim and the victim’s loved ones, murder can be very beneficial to the murderer and to their loved ones. As much instability as murders have created overtime, they have also created stability. However, from a normative perspective, society takes the idea that murder is bad as a truthful axiom without requiring support for that statement. That truth is then used as the basis for other arguments and ideas.
