Feelings and Moral Decision-Making

• Feeling


  A subjective experience of emotion
• Basic Emotions


  • Happiness
  • Sadness
  • Anger
  • Fear
  • Surprise
  • Disgust
• Complex Emotions


  • Jealousy
  • Pride
  • Guilt
  • Shame
• Sensations


  • Warmth
  • Cold
  • Pain
  • Pleasure
• Factors influencing feelings


  • Physiological Responses
  • Cognitive Appraisal
  • Social and Cultural Context
• Importance of feelings


  • Enhancing Self-Awareness
  • Facilitating Communication
  • Influencing Behavior
  • Promoting Mental Health
  • Building Empathy and Social Bonds
  • Providing Motivation
  • Learning and Adaptation
  • Guiding Decision-Making
• Instinctive Responses


  Immediate, automatic emotional reactions that arise without deliberate thought
• Instinctive Responses


  • Evolutionary Basis
  • Immediate Reactions
• Trained Responses


  Emotional reactions that are shaped and refined through experience, socialization, and education
• Trained Responses


  • Cultural and Social Conditioning
  • Moral Education and Reflection
• Instinctive and Trained Responses


  • Conflict and Harmony
  • Enhancement and Regulation
• Application of Feelings in Moral Dilemmas

  • Complex Decision-Making
  • Guidance and Justification
• Reason


  The capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought
• Impartiality


  Treating all people and perspectives equally without favoritism or bias
• Role of Feelings in Reason and Impartiality

  • Guiding Intuition and Decision-Making
  • Balancing Emotional and Rational Perspectives
  • Impact on Impartiality
• 1. Step Moral Reasoning Model

  1. Gather the Facts

  2. Determine the ethical issues

  3. Determine what values/principles have a bearing on the case

  4. List the alternatives or develop a list of options

  5. Compare the alternatives with the virtues/principles

  6. Consider the consequences or test the options

  7. Make a decision
• Moral Courage


  The ability to act ethically and stand up for what is right, even in the face of personal risk, adversity, or criticism
• Key Elements of Moral Courage

  • Integrity
  • Conviction
  • Empathy
  • Responsibility
  • Resilience
• Examples of Moral Courage


  • Whistleblowing
  • Standing Up to Injustice
  • Ethical Decision-Making
  • Civil Disobedience
• Will


  A person's mental faculty that drives decision-making, intention, and purposeful action
• Key Elements of Moral Courage

  • Integrity
  • Conviction
  • Empathy
  • Responsibility
  • Resilience
• Why is Will as important as Reason?
• Examples of Moral Courage


  • Whistleblowing
  • Standing Up to Injustice
  • Ethical Decision-Making
  • Civil Disobedience
• Will


  A person's mental faculty that drives decision-making, intention, and purposeful action
• Developing a Strong Will

  • Goal Setting
  • Building Self-Discipline
  • Enhancing Motivation
  • Strengthening Determination
  • Improving Self-Control
• Why is Will as important as Reason?