e than ethics is therefore difficult to conceive.
2.) In order to proceed ethically, one must understand what is right and wrong, good and bad. How descriptions are used will help to shape "facts" that will then guide policies concerning how one should proceed, bearing these facts in mind. Thus, ethics utilizes descriptive judgments and normative judgments; the first type assesses the properties of a thing or action in a factual, objective manner, the second type then ascribes value to that thing or action (8). According to MacKinnon, "Descriptive judgments…state certain factual beliefs" (8). Also considered "empirical judgments," these factual beliefs necessarily apply to observable phenomena that can be tested in some manner. Whether "capital punishment acts (or does not act) as a deterrent" (8) is an empirical question (though certainly this does not mean that it is an easily settled one). If it is determined that capital punishment
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