Module 3

THE ACT
FEELINGS
NOTHING MORE BUT FEELINGS…
…AND MORAL DECISIONS
 1. Compare responses based on reason and those based on
Learning feelings

Outcomes 1. Identify and analyze your feelings in personal moral

experiences
Introduction
Ano ba ang feelings?
Feeling is…
• “To feel is to be involved in
something” in a person, concept,
myself, process, problem, another
feeling.
• Feelings can be in the foreground
or background.
• Ex: Action done out of fear –
foreground
• Ex: Action done with fear –
background
• Feelings are instinctive response
to moral dilemmas.
 James Rachels asserted that in moral
reasoning , you could not rely on your
feelings no matter how powerful these
feelings may be.
Responses
based on
Reason versus
Feelings
An argument is reasonable if
the moral principles each individual's
the facts are correct are correctly well being is treated
applied equally important.
 Our moral compasses are also
powerfully influenced by feelings.

What is the role

of feelings in David Hume claims that in any given
situation a person would act based
Decision- on emotions rather than reason.

Making?
Reasoning in moral decisions is
preceded by an initial intuition or
gut feel.
How?

In this lesson, we will We will likewise tackle

see how feelings as how feelings and
instinctive responses emotions as trained
to moral dilemmas can responses to situations
serve as obstacles to may help in making
making right decisions. ethical decisions.
 Feelings as Obstacles to
Making the Right Decisions
1. The Non-deliberate Nature
of Feelings
• Non-deliberate denotes spontaneous actions.
• It is doing something without thinking through.
• It is automatic reflex – it is instinctive.
2. The partial nature of
feelings
Feeling or emotion
operates on a principle
called the “law of concern”
where emotions give focus
only on matters of personal
interest.
1. decisions based on
feelings focus only on a
narrow area.
Two aspects in the partial
nature of emotions:

2. it reflects personal and

self-interest perspectives.
3. The Capricious Nature of
Feelings

Feelings or emotions
rise up for arbitrary
reasons.
Feelings Help in Making the
Right Decisions
 Ethics without feeling goes
against Filipino philosophy’s
emphasis on LOVE (strong liking
or desire).
Feelings can
Help in Making
the Right
Our moral compasses are also Decisions
strongly influenced by the
fleeting forces of disgust,
fondness or fear. So sometimes,
subjective feelings matter when
deciding right and wrong.
Feelings can Help in
Making the Right Decisions
• There are at least three ways that
feelings especially negative
feelings, help in making the right
decisions:
1. it signals the need to adjust
behavior
2. it can help us learn from our
mistakes
3. emotional responses can be
reshaped as time passed by
Moral Emotions
by Texas McCombs School of Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1
Xtjg2GtJw
Let’s Reflect on This Song by Kenny Rogers,
“Coward of the County”