Applied Ethics: its Nature, Methods and Related Challenges

Applied Ethics, which is distinguished from Meta-ethics and normative theories, is a branch of normative ethics whose special focus is on issues of practical concern. There is no consensus of opinion on its nature, content and methods of reasoning. Some of its controversial issues are: evaluation of actions, solution of problems and recognition of norms and ethical codes. This paper deals first with the analysis and evaluation of different approaches concerning the nature, content and methods of applied ethics. Then, it refers to some cases of alive challenges. And finally, it presents some suggestions to bring these controversies to their end.