ethics the act

• Feelings


  Instinctive response to moral dilemmas
• Some ethicists believe that ethics is also a matter of emotion
• Moral judgments at their best should also be emotional
• Reason and emotion


  Not really opposites, both have relative roles in ethical thinking
• Emotions


  Judgments about the accomplishment of one's goals, can be rational based on good judgments
• Feelings


  Visceral or instinctual, provide motivations to act morally
• Moral judgments are highly emotional as people express strong approval or disapproval
• Being good involves both thinking and feeling
• Ethical Subjectivism


  Moral judgments are dependent on the feelings, attitudes, or standards of a person or group, not objective facts
• Emotivism


  Moral judgments express positive or negative feelings, not statements of fact
• Excluding feelings in moral living seems to go against the biblical decree to worship and serve God with a joyful heart or feeling
• Subjective feelings sometimes matter when deciding between right and wrong
• Emotions, like our love for our friends and family, are a crucial part of what gives life meaning, and ought to play a guiding role in morality
• Feelings or emotions involved in moral thinking should be anchored on careful consideration of a full range of right goals, including altruistic ones
• Reason


  Basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction, capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought
• Moral truths are truths of reason, a moral judgment is true if it is espoused by better reasons than the alternatives
• Reason is a requirement for morality, it spells the difference of moral judgments from mere expressions of personal preference
• Impartiality


  Principle of justice holding that decisions ought to be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another for improper reasons
• Impartiality in morality requires that we give equal and/or adequate consideration to the interests of all concerned parties
• 1. Step Moral Reasoning Model

  1. Gather the facts

  2. Determine the ethical issues

  3. Identify the principles that have a bearing on the case

  4. Consider the consequences of the available options

  5. Consider your duties and obligations

  6. Consider the virtues involved

  7. Make a decision and be prepared to act
• Determining ethical issues


  • Moral issues should be correctly stated in terms of competing interests
  • Issues must be presented in a P vs. Q format to reflect the interests that are colliding in a specific moral dilemma
• Identifying principles that have a bearing on the case

  • Recognise the moral values or principles that are vital to the rival positions being taken
  • Decide whether some principles are to be weighted more heavily than others
• Listing alternatives


  1. Come up with various alternative courses of action

  2. The more alternatives listed, the better the chance that the list will include some high-quality ones

  3. May come up with very creative alternatives not considered before
• Comparing alternatives with the principles

  1. Eliminate alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing on the case

  2. Determine whether there is a clear decision that can be made without further deliberation
• Weighing the consequences


  1. Consider both positive and negative consequences of the remaining available alternatives

  2. Informally weight the consequences since some are more beneficial/detrimental than others
• Making a decision


  1. Realise that there are no easy and painless solutions to moral dilemmas

  2. The decision made is the one that possesses the least number of problems or negative consequences, not one that is devoid of them
• Moral courage


  Doing the right thing even at the risk of inconvenience, ridicule, punishment, loss of job or security or social status
• Will


  • The faculty of the mind which chooses, at the moment of making decision, the strongest desire from among the various desires present
  • The capacity to act decisively on one's desires
• Will is important in ethics because of its central role in enabling a person to act deliberately
• Willpower refers to the inner strength to make a decision, take action, and handle and execute any aim or task until it is accomplished, regardless of inner and outer resistance, discomfort, or difficulties
• Moral courage and will require us to recognize our responsibilities and be accountable to the consequences of our own actions
• Moral courage sounds like

  • "I believe strongly in ____"
  • "Let's volunteer."
  • "Dad, I'm in trouble."
  • "I am going to campaign for _____"
  • "It's not fair that ______"
  • "I broke this, Mom. I'm sorry."
  • "I'll march with you."
  • "No, thanks, I don't want to hear a secret!"
  • "You shouldn't talk behind his/her back."
  • "You can depend on me."
• Lack of moral courage sounds like


  • "That's got nothing to do with me."
  • "How could you do this to me?"
  • "It's not for me to judge."
  • "I only did it once."
  • "This is all your fault!"
  • "Just let it slide."
  • "There's no use trying to change the system; it's just too strong."
  • "Nobody else is doing anything about it. So, why should I?"
  • "I might get into trouble."
  • "She got what she deserved."
• Developing will and moral courage

  1. Develop and practice self-discipline

  2. Do mental strength training

  3. Draw inspiration from people of great courage

  4. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will

  5. Avoid deeds that show lack of moral courage and will