Many ethicists divide the study of ethics in general into three areas. These areas include empirical ethics, normative ethics, and analytical ethics.
Empirical Ethics
Empirical Ethics refers simply to the empirical observation of ethical behavior. Sometimes this area of ethics is also referred to as descriptive ethics since it is aimed at describing the ethical behavior of a particular individual or people group. The objective of this particular approach to ethics is to explain ethical behavior. In addition, empirical ethics also examines the various processes by which individuals make ethical decisions.
Normative Ethics
Normative ethics is probably that area of ethical consideration with which we are most familiar. The focus of normative ethics is the establishing of a standard of form by which ethical behavior is to be conducted. Normative ethics is concerned with establishing a standard or a norm by which individuals are to conduct their lives. Normative ethics establishes behavior that an individual is to exhibit, as well as the type of behavior which is prohibited by the individual. Typically, normative ethics is characterized by words such as "ought" or "should" since normative ethics focuses upon how an individual or people group "ought" or "should" live their lives.
Analytical Ethics
Analytical ethics has as its focus the idea of "analysis." Analytical ethics is aimed at "taking apart" or "looking at the varied pieces of something". Therefore, analytical ethics dissects the ethical dimension of life and explores the nature of morality itself. Analytical ethicists focus upon questions such as: What is the distinction between moral and nonmoral? What do words such as "right," "good," and "ought," mean? What are we asserting when we say a person is "free" or "responsible"? Analytical ethics seems to be concerned with the question of "Why" a particular behavior is moral or immoral, good or bad, reprehensible or desirable.
