LESSON 6 :

FEELINGS AND MORAL

DECISION-MAKING
Let’s Warm-up
Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment

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MORAL EMOTIONS
Moral emotions are the
feelings and intuitions that
play a major role in most of
our ethical decision making
and actions.
EMOTION
Emotions can be defined as psychological
states that comprise thoughts and feelings,
physiological changes, expressive behaviors,
and inclinations to act.
• Inner-directed negative emotions like
guilt, embarrassment, and shame often
motivate people to act ethically.
• Outer-directed negative emotions, on the
other hand, aim to discipline or punish. For
example, people often direct anger, disgust, or
contempt at those who have acted unethically.
This discourages others from behaving the
same way.
• Positive emotions like gratitude and
admiration, which people may feel when
they see others acting with compassion
or kindness, can prompt people to help
others.
• Psychologists have long explored the
range of human emotions and their
definitions. Eckman (1999) identified six
initial basic emotions:
• Anger
• Disgust
• Fear
• Happiness
• Sadness
• Surprise
How are decisions affected by
emotion?
• Emotions are created when the brain
interprets what is going on around us
through our memories, thoughts, and
beliefs. This triggers how we feel and
behave. All our decisions are
influenced by this process in some
way. Different emotions affect
decisions in different ways. If you are
feeling sad, you might be more
willing to settle for things that aren’t
in your favor, such as not putting
yourself forward for promotion, or
remaining in an unhealthy
relationship.
How can emotional intelligence
help us make better decisions?
• Both emotion, and logic have a role to
play in helping us make positive
decisions. If we understand where our
emotions come from and start to
notice how they affect our thinking and
behavior, we can practice managing
our response, and learn to make
better choices. You can find out more
about how to develop your emotional
awareness in our guide to emotional
intelligence. You’ll soon feel confident
in knowing when to listen to your
emotions, and when to tune them out.
Feelings versus
Emotions
 Feelings. Both emotional experiences and
physical sensations — such as hunger or
pain — bring about feelings, according to
Psychology Today. Feelings are a
conscious experience, although not every
conscious experience, such as seeing or
believing, is a feeling, as explained in the
article.
 Emotions. According to Psychology Today,
an emotion “can only ever be felt…through
the emotional experiences it gives rise to,
even though it might be discovered through
its associated thoughts, beliefs, desires
and actions.” Emotions are not conscious,
but instead manifest in the unconscious
mind. These emotions can be brought to
the surface of the conscious state through
extended psychotherapy.
  SEVEN-STEP MORAL
REASONING MODEL
STOP AND THINK
 Before making any decisions, it is best
to take a moment to think about the
situation itself, our place in it, and
other surrounding factors which merit
consideration, such as the people involved and
the potential effects of your decisions on them.
This involves a step-back from the situation to
make sure that you do not act out of impulse.
CLARIFY GOALS
 It is also necessary to clarify your short-term
and long-terms aims. One often decides
on the basis of what he/she wants to
accomplish. Sometimes, in the heat of the
moment, short-term wants eclipse long term-
goals. Thus, you must determine if you are
willing to sacrifice more important life goals to
achieve your short-term goals. If you, for
example, are seeking retribution for harm
caused by another person, you have to think
about the long-term consequence of revenge
on your character in the long-run.
  SEVEN-STEP MORAL
REASONING MODEL

DETERMINE FACTS
 Make sure you gather enough information before you make a choice. An intelligent choice is one
that is supported by verified facts. You must first make sure that what you know is enough to merit
action. Without verifying facts, you may regret your choice in the future once various aspects of
the situation come to light. Never make a choice on the basis of hearsay. Make sure your sources
are credible and have integrity.

• Consider the reliability and credibility of the people providing the facts.
• Consider the basis of the supposed facts. If the person giving you the information says he or
she personally heard or saw something, evaluate that person in terms of honesty, accuracy,
and memory.
  SEVEN-STEP MORAL
REASONING MODEL
DEVELOP OPTIONS
 Once you are clear in terms of your goals and
facts, try to come up with alternative options to
exhaust all possible courses of action. Most of
the time, the pressure of a situation may make
you feel you have less options that you think.
Clear your mind and try to think of other
creative ways of clarifying your motives and
implementing your actions with the least
ethical compromise.
CONSIDER
CONSEQUENCES
 Filter your choices and separate the ethical
from the unethical choices bearing in mind
both your motives and potential consequences
of your action. Think of long-term
consequences and act in accordance with
the principles of justice and fairness.
Consequences are historical realities that
bear upon lives of others. A decision turns
something in your mind into reality. Make sure
you do not regret the decision you have
conferred reality upon.
  SEVEN-STEP MORAL
REASONING MODEL

CHOOSE
 Make a decision. If the choice is hard to make, try consulting others who may have knowledge or
experience of your situation. Find people with a virtuous character and compare your reasoning
with your moral analysis. Once you make up your mind, summon the will to do the right thing even
if itis hard and seemingly counter-intuitive. Make a decision. If the choice is not immediately clear,
try:
• Talking to people whose judgment you respect.
• Think of a person of strong character that you know or know of and ask yourself what they
would do in your situation.
• If everyone found out about your decision, would you be proud and comfortable?
• Follow the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated and keep your promises.
  SEVEN-STEP MORAL
REASONING MODEL

MONITOR AND MODIFY

 Monitor what happens after your decision and have enough humility to modify your action or
behavior as necessary. Pride may get in the way of admitting that you might have not thought out
a decision well enough. As you become more aware of the consequences of your actions,
especially on the lives of others, summon the strength and determination to make changes to
rectify any shortcomings. Do not hesitate to revise your decisions considering new
developments in the situation.
 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.
Decision-making is the ability to produce a
reasonable and defensible answer to an
ethical question or case. It is important that  
one’s know how to morally good in decision
making. In discerning over the facts, it is
important that decision maker must be
impartial to certain issues. One should be able
to consider that   every   moral
decision is equally important   to   others. In
this regard, no decisions should be given more
favor than the others
ROLE OF REASON AND EMOTION
IN MORAL DECISION MAKING
1. Feelings influence your decision. Decisions are ruled
to some degree by emotions. For instance, being over-
optimistic or over-pessimistic. Mixed emotions are
present in this state and sometimes result to clouded
thinking and can further which lead to poor decision-
making.
2. I do not agree that only reason can be applied in
making decisions and that feelings should be ignored
because there are always emotions in making decision
and that reason and feelings are not separate and
insulated compartments of human consciousness.
Although, emotions can be a product of selfishness
and cultural affiliation and can create biases, it cannot
be avoided in making decisions. For instance, if your
family and friends are cheerful, it can boost you up
when you are feeling negative, it helps you in coming
up with positive decisions.
ROLE OF REASON AND EMOTION
IN MORAL DECISION MAKING
3. Reason is the capacity for knowingly making
sense of things, creating and verifying facts,
applying logic and beliefs based on new or
existing information while Will is the ability of
the mind which selects, at the moment of
decision, the strongest desire from among the
various desires and enables a person to act
consciously.
ROLE OF REASON AND EMOTION
IN MORAL DECISION MAKING
 In the corporate world, the appropriateness of one’s action
can be decided with the organization’s vision-mission
together with its core values. In religion, what is right is
judged based on the members’ code, creed, and professed
conduct. In legal matters, we can know the truth based on
what the law and jurisprudence say. In culture, what is right
is adjudged based on the good custom, beliefs, and
practices that members of the said culture claim as
acceptable. These claims are debatable since everything in
philosophy can be questioned but our proximate nearness
to what is right becomes closer. We must remember, ethics
is not just in words or just academic in nature. It also
includes our thoughts and how we translate into action
what we think and say.
Feelings as Instinctive and Trained
Response to Moral Dilemmas
 Emotion results in feeling and this human ability to feel is
wonderful. Feeling gives color to our life. It comes as a natural
reaction to our encounter with ourselves, others, and anything
around us. When we receive high grades as a result of our hard
work, we feel elated and we rejoice. When our grades are low
because we take for granted our academics, we feel down and
regret our shortcoming.
 Reason is the basis of decision-making. This means that there is
a certain logic in analyzing situations of life; and, in logical
interpretation, we avoid fallacies or errors in thinking, wishful
actions, invalid claims, and misjudgment in determining rightful
actions. In logical thinking, priority is right judgment and proper
actions and not based on mere intuitive knowledge and
hypothetical or assumptive analysis.
 Experience tells us that feeling leads to thinking and thinking will
further push us to reflect deeper on what to do and what not to
do. Thinking will also trigger what we feel, and this feeling can
push us further to think.
 Feelings as Instinctive and Trained
Response to Moral Dilemmas
• For example that our sickly brother is bullied in school,
we react and feel bad about it. We may experience anger
and shed tears as we pity our brother. This natural
reaction will push us to think. It will trigger our mind to
think on what must be done. We may think of confront the
bullies themselves. We may also think of reporting it to
the school authorities or we may simply think of letting it
go since we do not want further trouble.
• Another example, to illustrate the point that feeling can
trigger us to think. When a gentleman sees someone
attractive, there comes in him the natural feeling of
admiration. This feeling of admiration and eventually
attraction will ignite him to think on what to do. His
feelings will push him to come up with a plan and
eventually to do his first move. He might start asking,
“How can I know her name? Is giving her a flower a good
move? Will I talk to her personally or through someone
else?”
 Feelings as Instinctive and Trained
Response to Moral Dilemmas
 Another example, to illustrate the point that feeling can
trigger us to think. When a gentleman sees someone
attractive, there comes in him the natural feeling of
admiration. This feeling of admiration and eventually
attraction will ignite him to think on what to do. His
feelings will push him to come up with a plan and
eventually to do his first move. He might start asking,
“How can I know her name? Is giving her a flower a good
move? Will I talk to her personally or through someone
else?”