The usefulness of normative ethics

Normative ethics looks into why we should do certain acts to bring about good. Under these, come Divine Command theory and Act Utilitarianism. They try to act as a moral guide, showing what is good and what is bad.

If we take determinism to mean that a person is determined by something, then normative ethics must be redundant, or wrong.

Divine Command says that anything that God says you must do, must be good. For example, the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments.

But the problem with Divine Command is that it is implied or suggested that we humans have freewill and a choice to follow God's commands. Divine Command works by encouraging us to follow God's will. An example of this in action would be when Christians wear the bracelet with WWJD to remind them to do as Jesus would do. If it is true that we don't actually have freewill, then Divine Command is pointless.

Act Utilitarianism however was thought up by an atheist to try to make sense of morality. Bentham believed in the greatest pleasure and said that an action that brought this about was the best choice.

The principle of utility in Act Utilitarianism used the principle of utility, and said that this must be held. But Act Utilitarianism also suggests that there is freewill. This is because it is suggested that a person has the freewill to chose rhe course of aciton that bring sabout the most pleasure and happiness.

Against, if it is in fact true that there is no freewill, Act Utilitarianism also is meaningless.

In conclusion, if there is not freewill at all, then both Divine Command and Act Utilitarianism as normative ethics are completely pointless and of no use.