Normative/Descriptive Statements, Answer Sheet
Consider whether the following are normative or descriptive statements.
|1. I enjoyed the movie immensely.
||Descriptive. The statement reports an emotional reaction.
|2. The failure of Company X to warn the public of their defective
product, when they knew about the defect, ultimately did harm to many consumers.
||Descriptive. The statement claims (1) that employees of Company
X knew of a defect in their product, and (2) that the failure to inform
the public of the defect resulted in harm to consumers. Although these two
factual claims can be the basis for the argument that employees of Company
X (or the Company itself, if collectively held responsible) did something
morally wrong, this normative claim is not made in the statement itself.
|3. The failure of the physician to do a thorough examination
of the patient was inexcusable.
||Normative. The statement condemns the actions of the physician.
|4. An individual who is in a coma due to brain trauma is still
a person whose rights must be respected.
||Normative. The noun "person" is used in a normative sense
here: a person is someone who has moral rights. This statement claims that
a persistent unconscious state in a patient does not annul the patient's
|5. Citizens of the United States value their liberty above
all other values.
||Descriptive. This statement reports an attitude shared in
common by citizens of the United States, but doesn't evaluate that attitude--the
statement neither endorses nor condemns it.
|6. Telling other people the truth will allow them to make
||Descriptive. This statement makes a prediction concerning
the factual consequences of honesty.
|7. There is at least no doubt about one thing--had the officials
at NASA called off the flight of the space shuttle Challenger, the astronauts
would not have been killed.
||Descriptive. This statement might be made in support of the
claim that the officials at NASA were wrong not to abort the flight of Challenger,
but this statement does not make that normative claim. Rather, it states
a factual claim concerning what the results would have been if NASA officials
had aborted the flight.
|8. If this bill is passed, the lives of many poor people in
our country will be immensely improved.
||Normative. Although this is a prediction, the prediction is
evaluative--it makes a claim concerning the quality of poor people's lives
in the future if the particular bill is passed.
|9. The failure of the financial advisor to fully inform the
investor of the risks of investing in the stock of Company Y violated his/her
legal obligations to the investor.
||Descriptive. This statement makes the factual claim that financial
advisor broke the law. No normative claim concerning whether this violation
of law was right or wrong is made.
|10. Do no harm to others!
||This is admittedly a trick question (I won't do this on a
test!). This is neither a normative nor a descriptive statement simply because
it is not a statement at all, but an imperative or command--the sentence
commands people not to harm others. Although moral reasoning would be the
most common reason for offering this imperative, the imperative itself makes
no moral claim.
|11. This music is complex--a wonderfully rich tapestry of
||Descriptive and normative. The adjective "complex" describes
the music (complex music might be either good or bad--this description doesn't
evaluate the worth of the music). But the following phrase "a wonderfully
rich tapestry of harmonious themes" makes a claim concerning the value of
|12. The Constitution of the United States guarantees every
adult U.S. citizen the right to vote.
||Descriptive. This describes the provisions of the Constitution;
no normative judgment is offered.
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