UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA | PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics | 2026
PLS3701 THEORETICAL & APPLIED ETHICS 2026 | A+
VERIFIED MEMO | UNISA | FULL ASSIGNMENT ANSWERS,
REFERENCES & MARK BREAKDOWN
PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics
MEMO
Module: PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics
Assignment: Written Assignment / Memo (Sample)
Year: 2026
Level: Third Year – Semester Module
Institution: University of South Africa (UNISA)
NQF Level: NQF 7
Purpose: Sample study memo — illustrative A+ standard
answer
Q. SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
Critically discuss the relationship between ethical theory and applied ethics with
reference to at least TWO major ethical theories. In your answer, explain how
these theories can guide moral decision-making in a real-world context of your
choice. [50 marks]
1. INTRODUCTION
Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, seeks to understand the nature of moral
judgement and the principles that ought to govern human conduct. The
discipline broadly divides into theoretical ethics — concerned with the
systematic justification of moral norms — and applied ethics, which engages
those norms in concrete domains such as medicine, business, law, and the
PLS3701 | Sample Study Memo — For Educational Use Only Page 1
, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA | PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics | 2026
environment. PLS3701 situates itself at the intersection of these two
dimensions, requiring students to move fluently between abstract theory and
practical moral reasoning.
This memo argues that theoretical ethics provides the normative scaffolding that
makes applied ethics coherent and defensible. Without the precision of ethical
theory, applied ethics risks degenerating into ad hoc moralising; without real-
world application, theory risks sterile abstraction. The memo illustrates this
complementary relationship by examining Kantian deontology and
utilitarianism, before applying both frameworks to the applied context of
healthcare resource allocation.
2. THEORETICAL ETHICS: NATURE AND FUNCTION
Theoretical ethics, also referred to as normative ethics, identifies and defends
the criteria by which actions, practices, or character traits are judged morally
right, wrong, permissible, or obligatory. It is distinguished from meta-ethics —
which asks foundational questions about the meaning and epistemology of
moral language — and from descriptive ethics, which merely catalogues the
moral beliefs of particular cultures or individuals without evaluating them.
The primary function of theoretical ethics in applied contexts is twofold: (i) it
supplies the reasoned principles that practitioners and policymakers can apply,
and (ii) it enables critical scrutiny of existing practices by providing an
independent normative standard against which those practices can be
assessed. As Rachels and Rachels (2019) observe, the purpose of moral
philosophy is not to provide ready-made answers but to help us think clearly
about difficult choices.
3. ETHICAL THEORY I: KANTIAN DEONTOLOGY
3.1 Core Commitments
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) developed the most influential deontological
ethical theory in the Western tradition. Deontological theories hold that the moral
quality of an action is determined by whether it conforms to a rule or duty,
independent of its consequences. For Kant, the foundation of morality lies in
reason itself: a rational agent has the capacity to govern their conduct by
principles derivable through pure practical reason.
PLS3701 | Sample Study Memo — For Educational Use Only Page 2
PLS3701 THEORETICAL & APPLIED ETHICS 2026 | A+
VERIFIED MEMO | UNISA | FULL ASSIGNMENT ANSWERS,
REFERENCES & MARK BREAKDOWN
PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics
MEMO
Module: PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics
Assignment: Written Assignment / Memo (Sample)
Year: 2026
Level: Third Year – Semester Module
Institution: University of South Africa (UNISA)
NQF Level: NQF 7
Purpose: Sample study memo — illustrative A+ standard
answer
Q. SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
Critically discuss the relationship between ethical theory and applied ethics with
reference to at least TWO major ethical theories. In your answer, explain how
these theories can guide moral decision-making in a real-world context of your
choice. [50 marks]
1. INTRODUCTION
Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, seeks to understand the nature of moral
judgement and the principles that ought to govern human conduct. The
discipline broadly divides into theoretical ethics — concerned with the
systematic justification of moral norms — and applied ethics, which engages
those norms in concrete domains such as medicine, business, law, and the
PLS3701 | Sample Study Memo — For Educational Use Only Page 1
, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA | PLS3701 – Theoretical & Applied Ethics | 2026
environment. PLS3701 situates itself at the intersection of these two
dimensions, requiring students to move fluently between abstract theory and
practical moral reasoning.
This memo argues that theoretical ethics provides the normative scaffolding that
makes applied ethics coherent and defensible. Without the precision of ethical
theory, applied ethics risks degenerating into ad hoc moralising; without real-
world application, theory risks sterile abstraction. The memo illustrates this
complementary relationship by examining Kantian deontology and
utilitarianism, before applying both frameworks to the applied context of
healthcare resource allocation.
2. THEORETICAL ETHICS: NATURE AND FUNCTION
Theoretical ethics, also referred to as normative ethics, identifies and defends
the criteria by which actions, practices, or character traits are judged morally
right, wrong, permissible, or obligatory. It is distinguished from meta-ethics —
which asks foundational questions about the meaning and epistemology of
moral language — and from descriptive ethics, which merely catalogues the
moral beliefs of particular cultures or individuals without evaluating them.
The primary function of theoretical ethics in applied contexts is twofold: (i) it
supplies the reasoned principles that practitioners and policymakers can apply,
and (ii) it enables critical scrutiny of existing practices by providing an
independent normative standard against which those practices can be
assessed. As Rachels and Rachels (2019) observe, the purpose of moral
philosophy is not to provide ready-made answers but to help us think clearly
about difficult choices.
3. ETHICAL THEORY I: KANTIAN DEONTOLOGY
3.1 Core Commitments
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) developed the most influential deontological
ethical theory in the Western tradition. Deontological theories hold that the moral
quality of an action is determined by whether it conforms to a rule or duty,
independent of its consequences. For Kant, the foundation of morality lies in
reason itself: a rational agent has the capacity to govern their conduct by
principles derivable through pure practical reason.
PLS3701 | Sample Study Memo — For Educational Use Only Page 2
