THE MORAL ACT: FEELINGS

AND MORAL DECISION MAKING

Schedule: MWF 7:00 – 8:00 P.M.
2nd year - BSA – 2A

GROUP MEMBERS:
BONIFACIO, LEA EDITHA
CLAUDIO, ROUZELL KHATE B.
CUSI, JAY ROSE E.
JIMENEZ, MARJORIE F.
QUIAMBAO, ROGINE V.
 The Moral Act: Feelings
 Moral emotions are a variety of social emotion that
are involved in forming and
communicating moral judgments and decisions, and
in motivating behavioral responses to one's own and
others' moral behavior.
 Emotions – that is to say feelings and intuitions – play
a major role in most of the ethical decisions people
make. Most people do not realize how much their
emotions direct their moral choices. But experts think
it is impossible to make any important moral
judgments without emotions.
The Development of Kant’s Theory of
Moral Feeling El desarrollo de la
teoría
 Kant’s critical theory on moral feeling can be divided into two
stages: early and late. In the early stage, Kant was committed to
accepting and transforming the traditional concept of moral
feeling, while in the later stage he turned to developing his own
unique theory on the topic. His beliefs about moral feeling
changed between these two stages, both regarding the basic
meaning of moral feeling (from intuitive empirical feelings to a
priori feelings based on rationality) and the function of moral
feeling in moral philosophy (from the basis of moral law to the
motivation of moral action)
The Development of Kant’s Theory of
Moral Feeling El desarrollo de la
teoría
Kant criticizes the traditional empirical concept of

moral feeling as a pathological feeling while
simultaneously redefining moral feeling as an a
priori feeling based on practical reason. In this
sense, moral feeling is a unique feeling with
objective universality.
 According to its function, there are two kinds of
moral feeling: 1) when the feeling of respect for
moral law and personality serves as the motive
for moral action and 2) when the feeling is
produced by the consciousness of self and others’
action, whether or not action follows moral law
 Moral Feeling and How Did Your
Feelings Influence Your Decision?
 The concept of moral feeling (moral sense)
played a significant role in Scottish ethics
before Kant. According to Shaftesbury, moral
sense is the capacity to feel second-order
affections through self-reflection.
 These hormones enter the bloodstream and
create feelings, sometimes negative and
sometimes positive. So, to review, it's stimuli,
then emotions, then hormones and,
finally, feelings. In other words, your
emotions impact your decision-making
process by creating certain feelings.
 What is Moral Decision Making?

 Moral decision making is the ability to produce a

reasonable and defensible answer to an ethical
question. Many ethics teachers sensibly spend much
of their time contrasting deontological (rule-based)
approaches to deciding ethical issues to
consequentialist approaches.
 Some people may rely on principles of both guilt and
fairness and may switch their moral rule depending on
the circumstances, according to a Radboud University
-- Dartmouth College study on moral decision-making
and cooperation.
How Do We Make Moral Decisions?

 This is when a person is put into a situation

where they must make a moral decision. A
moral decision is a choice made based on a
person's ethics, manners, character and
what they believe is proper behavior. These
decisions tend to not only affect your well-
being, but also the well-being of others.
Seven Steps to Ethical Decision
Making
 – Step 1: Define the problem
 – Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance
and support
 – Step 3: Identify alternatives
 – Step 4: Evaluate the alternatives
 – Step 5: Make the decision
 – Step 6: Implement the decision
 – Step 7: Evaluate the decision
 How We Make Moral Decisions?
 One of the most intriguing models of moral judgments, the
Social Intuitionist Model (SIM) proposed by Jonathan Haidt,
has its roots in the philosophy of Hume.
 Hume observed that moral judgments were not derived
from reason, but from moral sentiments. In a similar line,
SIM proposes that emotional intuitions drive the moral
judgments we make, while rationales and justifications are
generated post hoc.
 One interesting consequence of this is that unrelated
emotions can influence our moral judgments, often without
our conscious awareness. For example, feelings of disgust
induced by unpleasant smells have been shown to lead to
more severe moral judgments. There is some evidence
supporting Haidt’s theory, but the role of emotions in moral
judgments is likely more nuanced.
 Do Emotions and Morality Mix?
 Daily life is peppered with moral decisions. Some are so automatic that
they fail to register—like holding the door for a mother struggling with a
stroller, or resisting a passing urge to elbow the guy who cut you in line
at Starbucks. Others chafe a little more, like deciding whether or not to
give money to a figure rattling a cup of coins on a darkening evening
commute. A desire to help, a fear of danger, and a cost-benefit analysis
of the contents of my wallet; these gut reactions and reasoned
arguments all swirl beneath conscious awareness.
 What is the Importance of Emotion in
Making Moral Decision?

 However, acting in the best interests of

others is also important in human
civilization, and moral sentiments, or
emotions, serve to help decision makers
commit to such a decision rather than
being drawn back toward pure self-interest.
Emotions such as guilt and love help
decision makers make such commitments.
Why is it Important to Make Moral
Decisions?
 Moral values, rules, and virtues provide standards for
morally acceptable decisions, without prescribing how
we should reach them. However, moral theories do
assume that we are, at least in principle, capable of
making the right decisions. Both non-moral and moral
decisions may resort to intuitions and heuristics.
 It is necessary to understand the particulars of
the moral act in order to make a moral decision that
is grounded on facts than whims. When
seeking important decisions, we naturally seek the
guidance of our families and peers because we know
that the decision we make affects not only ourselves
but also others.
SOURCES

 https://
greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/is_morality_based_on_emotions_or
_reason
 https://www.ethics.org/resources/free-toolkit/decision-making-model/
 https://
www.con-textoskantianos.net/index.php/revista/article/view/219/227
 https://www.con-textoskantianos.net/index.php/revista/article/view/219/
227
THE END.