Module 11

Feelings and Reason

Introduction

This module discusses the role of feelings and emotions in decision making reason and emotions are
jointly at work and tightly intertwined. This means that feelings are used as instinctive response to moral
dilemmas. Feelings may sometimes prohibited to make right decision but it can also be used in making
the right one This concept will be explained by two theories or ethics which discuss the role of feeling on
morality. Lastly, student should be mindful of their own feelings, thoughts and values as an indication of
moral development.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the topic students are expected to:

p) Appraise and analyze their feelings in personal experiences.

q) Compare reasonable and emotional responses.

r) Compare and contrast ethical subjectivism and emotivism.

s) Apply the principles of ethical subjectivism and emotivism.

Feeling and Moral Decision-Making

According to Ells (2014), emotion is a response to stimuli based on past experiences which is made
instinctively while reason is a form of personal justification which changes from person to person based
on their own ethical and moral code, as well as prior experience. Some ethicists believe that ethics is
also a matter of emotion. They hold the moral judgement as they are even deemed by some as
instinctive and trained response to moral dilemmas (De Guzman et al. 2017). Emotions is the result of
logical analysis through which we first analyze someone's behavior, make an appropriate judgement,
and then feel whichever is called for, respect or contempt (Pillemer & Wheeler, 2010).

Feeling-based Theories in Ethics

There are at least two theories in ethics that gives focus on the role of feelings on morality. They are (1)
Ethical Subjectivism and (2) Emotivism (De Guzman et al. 2017).

1. Ethical Subjectivism - This theory basically utter runs contrary to the principle that there is objectivity
in morality. Fundamentally a meta-ethically theory, it is not about what things are good and what are
things are bad. It does not tell how we should live or what moral norms we should practice. Instead, it is
a theory about the nature or moral judgements (De Guzman et al. 2017).

In the article "Basics of Philosophy", Ethical Subjectivism holds that there are no objective moral
properties and that ethical statements are in fact arbitrary because they do not express immutable
truths.

As cited in the article "Basics of Philosophy", there are several different variants which can be
considered under the heading of Ethical Subjectivism:

• Simple Subjectivism: the view (largely as described above) that ethical statements reflects sentiments,
personal preferences and feelings rather than objective facts.

• Individualist Subjectivism: the view (originally put forward by Protagoras) that there are as many
distinct scales of good and evil as there are individuals in the world. It is effectively a form of Egoism,
which maintains that every human being ought to pursue what is in his or her self-interest exclusively.

• Moral Relativism (or Ethical Relativism): the view that for a thing to be morally right is for it to be
approved of by society, leading to the conclusion that different things are right for the people in
different societies and different periods in history.

• Ideal Observer Theory: the view that what is right is determined by the attitudes that a hypothetical
ideal observer ( a being who is perfectly rational, imaginative and informed) would have.

2. Emotivism - As cited in the "Emotive Theory of Ethics", the term emotivism refers to a theory about
moral judgements, sentences, words, and speech acts; it is sometimes also extended to cover aesthetic
and other nonmoral forms of evaluation. Although sometimes used to refer to the entire genus, strictly
speaking emotivism is the name of only the earliest version of ethical noncognitivism (also known as
expressivism and no descriptivism).

Feelings Can Help in Making the Right Decision

According to Pillemer & Wheeler (2010), moral development may rest in our ability to be mindful of our
own feelings, thoughts, and values - and the context in which we are functioning. As we ponder
decisions, and more fundamentally, our principles, Pillemer & Wheeler (2010), enumerated some
precepts to bear mind. Among them are:
1. Don't accept the problem as given. - How choices are framed can sway your choices in ways that may
contradict your core beliefs. Generate multiple options and assess them against one another instead of
considering them in isolation.

2. Listen to both your heart and head. - Issues of right and wrong matter deeply to us, as they should.
Twinges of disgust or shame may be internal signals that we are nearing the outer bounds of acceptable
behavior. But we should also reflect on the sources of our feelings, be they negative or positive, as they
may be triggered by associations that have nothing to do with the matter at hand.

3. Watch your language. - How we name things exposes (or masks) the nature of our actions and their
consequences. Firings become layoffs, layoffs become downsizing, and downsizing becomes right-sizing.
The action may be unavoidable, but we should not sugarcoat the fact that people who once worked with
or for us are now jobless.

4. Take special care in dimly lit places. - Your actions and intimately even your values are influenced by
the company you keep.

5. Be modest about your virtue. - Most of us believe that we are more ethical that are others. Countless
experiments and real life examples, however, should remind us that people who are most self-righteous
may be most likely to slip.

6. Understand why others transgress. - Some lapses may be due to moral failure, but others can be
caused by external factors that have little to do with their fundamental nature. Luck plays a role in
regard to how people are tested and what resources they can draw upon. Refrain from judging a
person's core character, positively or negatively, on the basis of a single event.

7. Don't give up on yourself ( or on others). - An ancient proverb says, "Every saint has a past. Every
sinner has a future". Honest reflection about the past, coupled with a measure of humility, can serve as
foundation for leading a responsible life going forward.