GE08 | UNIT II - Determinants of Morality
DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
THREE DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
 Catholic Dictionary
1. THE ACT ITSELF
2. THE INTENTION
3. THE CIRCUMSTANCES
 These three answers the questions of
the badness or the goodness of the
human actions.
THE ACT ITSELF
 Meant what the free will chooses to do–in
thought, word, or deed–or chooses not to do.
THE INTENTION
 Be end or intention is meant the purpose for
which the act is willed, which may be the act
itself (as one of loving God) or some other
purpose for which a person acts (as reading to
learn).
THE CIRCUMSTANCES
 Meant all the elements that surround a human
action and affect its morality without belonging
to its essence.
*who? where? how? how much? by what
means? how often?
SOME CIRCUMSTANCES SO AFFECT
THE MORALITY OF AN ACTION
 STEALING a consecrated object becomes
sacrilege.
 LYING under oath is perjury.
A. AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES
 are those which add to the seriousness of the
offense.
 In the case of murder, aggravating
circumstances are conspiracy, profession of the
murderer, taking advantage of one’s position in
the government.
B. MITIGATING or EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
 are those that lessen or palliate the gravity of a
crime.
 In the case of murder, mitigating circumstances:
provocation; lack of full consent or knowledge;
no intention to kill.
C. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES
 are those that make the doing of an act right; so
that there is no crime committed nor is there any
criminal or civil liability.
 In the case of murder, there can be no justifying
circumstance. However, there can be a
justifying circumstance in the case of killing an
aggressor in self-defense.
1. The ACT itself
2. The INTENTION
3. The CIRCUMSTANCES
 Departure from any of these makes the
action morally wrong.
 To be morally good, a human act must
agree with the norm of morality on all three
counts: in its nature or act, its intention, and
its circumstances.
FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION-MAKING
 Is it completely wrong to follow our emotions
or feelings in response to moral dilemmas?
 What are the hazards of letting our feelings
cloud our decisions?
 What are the dangers of following merely
logical reasoning without affecting our
feelings?
Our FEELINGS play a large role in our
decision-making every day. Most of our decisions
from picking the rights clothes to wear to voicing out
our opinions in very important social and political
issues are based on how we feel at a given situation
and at a given time.
WHY DO WE HAVE FEELINGS?
 “Human creatures are the most self-conscious
animals” which allow them to develop “basic
emotional responses” and generate more
rational methods to help them survive. This is the
difference between humans and animals.
(Simons, I., 2009).
 The Role of our Emotions is for survival and innate
social responsibilities, according to the Philosophy
Professor Jordi Valverdu.
 According to Dr. Simons and Professor
Valverdu, the role of our emotions is primarily
for the survival of the species. This helps us
and be on the most level of the food chain
for hundreds of years.
HOW DID OUR ANCESTORS USE FEELINGS FOR
SURVIVAL?
“FIGHT OR FLIGHT” MODE
 Back in the days when our ancestors live in the
desert without the protective gear that we are
experiencing right now, it is their primary tool for
their survival in their bodies.
 In this mode, their bodies prepare tense, their
muscles tighten, their lips dry and their
consciousness became alert. This response is
triggered by “fear” which people feel when they
sense potential threat or a hazard.
 Our ancestors benefited a lot from using their
emotions and feelings in surviving from Sangers.
For instance, our bodies automatically shift to a
 fight mode when we feel afraid which is then
triggered by a sense of danger around us.
Hence, feel is not always a bad thing for
humans.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU ARE
SCARED? HOW DOES IT REACT?
HOW ABOUT OUR OTHER EMOTIONS?
THREE PRINCIPLE OF CHARLES DARWIN
According to Charles Darwin:
 aside from survival, we also use our feelings
to communicate with one another.
 fear is a helpful tool to keep us from getting
hurt in the past.
THREE PRINCIPLES IN UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS
AS RESPONSE TO EXPERIENCE
—Charles Darwin
1. THE PRINCIPLE OF FUNCTIONAL HABITS
 States that emotional responses are useful
expressive habits based on experience. They
are functional.
 Examples:
 lifting of eyebrows when stunned/surprised
 the gnarling of teeth when furious/angry
 sneer when enrage
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTAGONISTIC-THESIS
 Entails that the purpose of these emotional
responses is for communication clarity. It is the
opposite of serviceable habits.
 Examples:
 gaping mouth shows wonder or lack of
understanding
 the shrugging of shoulders indicates passive
expressions
3. THE PRINCIPLE OF INVOLVEMENT OF THE
ENTHUSED NERVOUS SYSTEM
 Which says that the nervous system needs to
discharge excess energy.
 Example:
 The amusement and laughter is a quasi-
convulsive motion that explodes(discharges)
an overflow of nervous energy that was
induced by either physical/psychological
tension.
CAN WE RELY SOLELY ON OUR EMOTIONS WHEN
MAKING DECISIONS?
 The answer is regrettably NO. By now, we have
already comprehended the positive impact of
feelings and emotional responses for our survival.
 Much today, having some emotions is good as
they give us motivation and curiosity.
 However, excess of these feelings can cloud our
minds from being able to decide properly,
particularly if you are under extreme happiness,
sadness, or fear.
 EXAMPLES:
 Rage’s irritability makes us feel discontented.
These feelings also hinder us from hearing
other’s opinions and thoughts. Anger can
also lead to rush decisions.
 Excessive confidence can make us lazy in
evaluating our opinions.
 Extreme grief can stop living our lives to the
most complete and appreciating what we
have in life.
 Unnecessary optimism can make us less
cautious with the hazards associated with our
decisions.
 Obsessions or irrational fears cause people
to experience extreme fear about a
situation, living creature, place, or an object
that even without reason.
REQUIREMENTS OF MORALITY
 How can we resolve the problem with feelings?
 Through reason and impartiality.
 REASON  the capacity to see the
interconnectedness of things and the logic behind
the processes involved. With reason, one looks for
the causes and effects of actions and provides
supports for a hypothesis.
 IMPARTIALITY  the principle of detaching
oneself from any form of bias and prejudice in order
to come up with an objective criterion that is free
from unfair and unequal treatment of one type of
person to another.
SHOULD WE COMPLETELY REFRAIN FROM LISTENING
TO OUR FEELINGS?
 The answer is NO. We should learn how to
balance our feelings and rational mind.
 Our feelings let us get in touch with our
humanity. It helps us in empathizing with other
people and thinking about how a certain action
would most probably affect them.
 On the other hand, reason and impartiality
make us see things clearer as it pushes us to be
objective and detach ourselves from our selfish
desires.