Review of the Relationship between Normative and Applied Ethics: Covid-19 Insights

Any theory in normative ethics offers an exclusive criteria for moral action. At the same time, the prevailing view is that applying any normative theory can solve practical ethical dilemas. Thus, it is generally believed that applied-professional ethics is nothing more than normative ethics. But many philosophers and professional ethicists oppose this deductive approach to the application problem, arguing for a drivative (or procedural) approach to applied ethics. According to this view, applied ethics is not merely based on a set of a priori principles in normative ethics but requires the use of human experience in specific situations. The natural and unnatural disasters are occasions that challenge the standards of normative ethics under normal circumstances and remind of the need for special studies titled “disaster ethics”. In this regard, and considering the Covid-19 pandemic, this article addresses the issue of whether the ethical challenge of the triage of coronary patients to receive the limitted medical resources and services can be solved solely on the basis of normative ethical theories?