Which term describes describing and studying people's beliefs about morality without making judgments?

• A. Descriptive Ethics
• B. Meta-Ethics
• C. Duty
• D. Morals

Answer: (A)

Describing and studying people’s beliefs about morality without making judgments falls under Descriptive Ethics. This field records what individuals, groups, or cultures actually believe about right and wrong, how they justify those beliefs, and how those beliefs are practiced in real life, without evaluating them. It differs from normative approaches that argue about what people ought to believe or do. Meta-ethics, in contrast, examines the meaning and status of moral terms and judgments—whether moral claims are about facts, emotions, or prescriptions, and whether morality is objective or subjective—rather than describing specific beliefs. The ideas of duty or morality themselves denote normative concepts about obligation and value, not the descriptive study of beliefs. So Descriptive Ethics is the best fit for describing beliefs about morality without making judgments.