Part II:

The Act
Ethics
 INTRODUCTION

This section addresses the following questions:

● What is the role of feelings in moral decisions? What are the

disadvantages of over-reliance on feelings?
● How can we make reasoned and impartial decisions?
● Why is reason not enough in carrying out moral decisions?

Over the past decades this occasional feeling has become chronic
 01

FEELINGS AND
MORAL DECISION
A. Feelings and moral decision making

- Why they can be obstacles to making the right

decisions

- How they can help in making the right

decisions
 Theories that give focus on the role of feelings in
morality:
1. Ethical Subjectivism
2. Emotivism

- Feelings as Instinctive Response to Moral Dilemmas

● Ethics is a matter of emotion.

● Feelings are seen as also necessary in ethical judgements as they are
even deemed as instinctive and trained response to moral dilemmas.
Reason and emotions are not really opposites.
Both abstract inference and emotional intuitions or instincts are seen as
having relative roles in ethical thinking.
● Feelings or emotions are said to be judgements about the accomplishment of one’s
goal.
 Feelings as Obstacles to Making the Right Decisions
1. Ethical Subjectivism

- It is fundamentally a meta-ethical theory. It is a theory about the nature of

moral judgments.

- It holds that the truth or falsity of ethical propositions is

dependent on the feelings,attitudes, or standards of a person or group or persons.

- For every controversial ethical topic, we usually hear at least two opposing views
concerning the matter.

- One camp which declares the action as immoral

- Another camp which claims that the action is moral

 Feelings as Obstacles to Making the Right Decisions

2. Emotivism
- It was developed chiefly by the American philosopher Charles L. Stevenson.
It has been one of the most influential theories of Ethics in the 20th century.

- It is actually the most popular form of non-cognitivism ,the meta-ethical theory

that claims that ethical sentences do not convey authentic propositions.
According to Emotivism, moral judgments are not statements of fact but are mere
expressions of the emotions of the speaker, especially since they are usually feelings-based.

FEELINGS CAN HELP IN MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS

- Admittedly, there are situations in which our feelings and likings are relevant to the rightness
of our decisions and actions.
- Ethics-without-feeling also appears to go against Christian philosophy emphasis in love, for
love is basically a strong liking, desire, or emotion
 02
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY AS
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR
MORALITY
REASON - Reason is the basis or motive for an action, decision,
or conviction. As a quality, it refers to the capacity for logical,
rational, and analytic thought; for consciously making sense of
things, establishing and verifying facts, applying common
sense/logic, and justifying, and if necessary, changing practices,
institutions, and beliefs based on existing or new existing
information.
REASON AND IMPARTIALITY DEFINED

ACTION
The process of doing something,
especially when dealing with a problem
or difficulty

DECISION
The act or process of deciding;
determination, as of a question or doubt,
by making a judgment

CONVICTION
A strong belief or opinion
political convictions
IMPARTIALITY - Is a 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.
 THE 7-STEP MORAL REASONING MODEL
Scott B. Rae Ph. D. proposes a 7-step model for making ethical decisions that uses reason
and impartiality.

CASE:
A 20-year old Hispanic male was brought to hospital for injuries, but was released shortly.
- He admitted to the doctor that he was HIV positive and is homosexual
- His sister at home was willing to take care of him until he was fully recovered
- He asked his doctor that she not be told that he had tested HIV positive. His had fear that
his father would hear of this homosexuality.

Moral Dilemma:
The doctor is bound by his code of confidentiality. But the patient’s sister, w/o knowing the
truth, is putting herself at risk by providing care for his brother. Should the doctor breach
confidentiality to safeguard the patient’s sister?
 THE 7-STEP MORAL REASONING MODEL
Step 1: GATHER THE FACTS
- The patient was wounded in gang violence. He probably fears rejection and perhaps retribution from
his fellow gang members, especially if they discover that he is HIV positive.
- The patient’s sister would be changing fairly sizable wound dressings for her brother and the chances
are high that she would come into contact with his HIV infected blood.

Step 2: DETERMINE THE ETHICAL ISSUES

- The conflict is the need for patient confidentiality vs. the duty to warn the sister of risk of harm.

Step 3: IDENTIFY THE PRINCIPLES THAT HAVE A BEARING ON THE CASE

Principles: (1)patients have a right to have their medical information kept confidential; (2)the duty of the
physician to warn interested parties other than the patient if they are at risk of looming harm.
Crucial questions: Is the degree of the risk that the patient’s sister is taking by providing nursing care for her
brother substantial or not?

Some may claim: The risk to the patient is not as severe as the risk to the sister. Worst case scenario: His
father would disown him and the gang would throw him out. He would recover from all of that. But is his
sister contracted HIV, she would not recover from that.

Step 4: LIST THE ALTERNATIVES

(a) Tell the sister that her brother is HIV positive.
(b) Refuse to tell her that information.

Other alternatives:
(c) Warn the patient’s sister in general terms about taking suitable precautions for caring for these types of
wounds (like wearing gloves and a mask and washing instantly with a disinfected soap).
(d) Request the patient to inform his sister of this condition and request that she not tell any other family
member or any of his friends.
Step 5: COMPARE THE ALTERNATIVES WITH THE PRINCIPLES
For Rae: “Encouraging universal precautions for the sister but not telling her why” comes close to satisfying
all the pertinent principles.

Step 6: WEIGH/ASSESS THE CONSEQUENCES

Telling the sister (or insisting that the patient tell his sister) has these likely consequences:
a. The sister would be saved from the risk of developing a fatal illness.
b. The brother’s HIV status would be out in the open, to family etc.
c. Trust with the physician suffers; the patient may refuse to see doctors, w/c ins unfortunate since he will
need ongoing medical care.

The physician refusing to disclose the information may have these consequences:
d. The sister would be vulnerable to contracting an infection for which there is no cure.
e. The patient’s HIV status is a well-kept secret, as his homosexuality. But it is not likely that either his
HIV status or his homosexuality can be kept a secret forever.
f. Trust between the physician and the patient is maintained.
Telling the sister take general precautions us adopted may have these consequences:
a. She may exercise caution in taking care of her brother, but she may not.
b. The patient’s HIV status and homosexual orientation are kept secret, but they will become known
eventually.
c. Trust with the physician and patient is maintained. However, if the sister asks her brother questions
about the precautions. He may think that the doctor has prompted her to ask these questions, leaving
him feeling betrayed.

Step 7: MAKE A DECISION

Guiding questions:
Which principles are the most weighty?
Are there others that you would include?
Which alternatives are the most viable?
Are there others that you would suggest?
Which consequences seem to you the most severe? Are there others that you think will occur?
 03
MORAL COURAGE &
DEVELOPING WILL
 MORAL COURAGE

Is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a

person to withstand danger, difficulty, or
fear; persevere; and venture.

Moral is concerned with the principles of

right and wrong ethically

Courage can be defined as an act or

responsibility that can be manifest in times of
dilemma and the ability to confront danger,
fear, intimidation, pain or uncertainty.
 WILL AND WILL POWER

WILL refers to that faculty of the mind

which chooses, at the moment of making
decision, the strongest desire from among
the various desires present

WILL POWER It 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.
1. Why the will is as important as reason
- Moral courage helps us address ethical issues and take action when doing the right things is not easy.
Moral courage involves the willingness to speak out and do what is right in the face of forces that
would lead us to act in some other way.

- Intellect or reason is the principle of human action.

- We act an idea in mind of what we are going to do or achieve.

WILL
❏ Intrinsic principle moving the agent towards an end.
❏ Every agent acts with an end the mind.
❏ This end moves a person.
❏ Will being a prerequisite of an action to be considered human.
Will + Intellect = Human Act
Otherwise, it is ACT OF MAN

What is Human Act?

- are actions that are proper to humans, thus the crucial element of willful consent and knowledge
of the action must be present. One must freely use his/her intellect and free will when acting.
Human acts reveal the value of responsibility. or accountability. (Living a Christian Moral Life,
2013)

St. Thomas Aquinas

- Hence, moral courage is the interplay between reason and will.
 1. Developing the will

(a) Develop and practice self discipline

- Developing will and moral courage involves developing self-control. It includes nurturing the ability to
stick to actions, thoughts, and behavior, which lead to moral improvement and success.

(a) Do mental strength training

- One of the most simple and effective methods under this mental strength training involves declining to
satisfy unimportant and unnecessary desires.

(c) Draw inspiration from people of great courage.

- People usually admire and respect courageous persons who have won great success by manifesting
self-discipline and will power.
(d) Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will
- Practice makes perfect. If one wishes to nurture the moral courage and will in him, he must strive
doing the acts that manifest them whenever opportunity allows it.

The following are some examples:

❏ helping someone push a car (e.g. out of a snow bank), even if it means being late
❏ standing up to a bully on the playground
❏ picking up litter
❏ doing homework or chores without being reminded
❏ turning in a toy or a wallet to the Lost and Found
❏ (for teens) calling home for a ride from a party where alcohol is being served
❏ (for teachers) giving all students an equal voice regardless of race, socioeconomic status, religion,
gender or sexual orientation
(e) Avoid deeds that show lack of moral courage and will.
- This involves evading acts that show irresponsibility, cowardice, apathy, rashness, imprudence, ill will,
and wickedness. Here are some examples:

❏ walking away from someone in need

❏ laughing at someone's misfortune or accident
❏ grabbing the spotlight from someone who has earned it
❏ choosing sides after seeing which way the wind is blowing
❏ breaking a promise
❏ lying or cheating
❏ remaining silent in the face of wrong-doing or injustice
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

Reported By:

Michaela Brazil
Angelica Matinong