LEARNING MODULE 2

THE MORAL ACT

 Unit Topics for Module 2
The basic concepts that will be discussed are the following:
Unit 1: Feelings and Moral Decision-Making
A. Feelings as instinctive and trained response to moral dilemmas
B. Why can they be obstacles to making the right decisions? / How can
they help in making the right decisions?
Unit 2: Reason and Impartiality as Minimum requirements for Morality
A. Reason and Impartiality defined
B. The seven-step moral reasoning model
Unit 3: Moral Courage
A. Why the will is as important as reason?
B. Developing the will

 Module 2 Learning Objectives:

At the end of this learning unit, the students are expected to:
1. Define feelings and emotions;
2. Explain the role of feelings in moral decisions;
3. Enumerate the disadvantages of relying on feelings;
4. Define what is logical reasoning and impartiality;
5. Explain how man can make reasoned and impartial decisions; and
6. Define and describe what is moral courage.

THE MORAL ACT

You make moral decisions daily. However, have you noticed that some decisions
are automatic responses and that you are unconsciously deciding at all? For example, you
help an elderly cross the road. Without thinking, you ran to the opposite side of the road,
away from perceived danger. You desire to help and your fear of danger are gut reactions
while reasoned argument is just whirling beneath conscious awareness.

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Unit 1: Feelings and Moral Decision-Making

A. Feelings as Instinctive and Trained Response to Moral Dilemmas

(Number of learning hours: 3)

Think about an instance in your life when you were faced with a moral dilemma.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How did your feelings influence your decision?
2. Do you agree to use only reason in making moral decisions, and that feelings should
be ignored? Defend your viewpoint.
3. What is the difference between reason and will?

Ask from a friend a family or anybody on the question: Is it okay to make moral decisions
based on what we feel? Have you done something good as a result of what you feel?

What to expect?
This section will discuss some philosophical insights on feelings, and its influence
in decision-making.

Feelings or emotions are cognitive evaluation about certain situations. The

emotional reaction is usually fast and spontaneous. There are many types of emotions
which are shared universally: love, joy, pity, sympathy, sadness, hatred, anger, bitterness,
and disgust.
Any feeling reaching the level of universality can become philosophical. Thus, it is
necessary to understand the nature of the universals that constitute the subject of

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philosophy. A universal is usually understood as a general concept, the common quality
of many phenomena: for example, ‘white’, ‘beautiful’, ‘number’, or ‘mind’. However, a
universal might also be something that evokes similar feelings: something that brings
about joy or wonder, provokes fear or boredom: eg. ‘love’ or ‘death’. The point is not that
a feeling can become the object of philosophical reasoning, but that a feeling itself, when
acquiring universality, becomes philosophical. Not just thinking about joy but also
experiencing joy is a philosophical occupation if the joy is related not to particular events
or everyday circumstances, but to a multitude of things, to the world order in general, or
to the laws of existence. Such universal feelings or philosophical sentiments might be
labelled ‘unisentals’.

Philosophical Insights on Feelings

Ancient to contemporary philosophers discussed the role and importance of
feelings in moral decision-making.

Hume and the Philosophy of the Mind

Philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist David Hume (1711-1776) famously
placed himself in opposition to most moral philosophers, ancient and modern, who
argued to regulate actions using reason and that reason has dominion over feelings or
emotions. Hume is best known in ethics for asserting four theses:
1. Reason alone cannot be a motive to the will, but rather is the “slave of the
passions”.
2. Moral distinctions are not derived from reason.
3. Moral distinctions are derived from the moral sentiments: feelings of approval
(esteem, praise) and disapproved (blame) felt by spectators who contemplate a
character trait or action.
4. While some virtues and vices are natural, others (including justice) are artificial/
(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016)

Hume maintained that, although reason is needed to discover the facts of any
concrete situation, reason alone is insufficient to yield a judgment that something is
virtuous or vicious (Hume, 2003; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016). Hume sided
with the moral sense theorists that a person gains awareness of moral good and evil by
experiencing the pleasure of approval and the uneasiness of disapproval.
According to Hume’s “Theory of the Mind”, humans have what we he called
passions (which he used to describe emotions or feelings). He further classified passion
as direct and indirect. The direct passions are cased directly by the sensation of pain or
pleasure; the passion that “arises immediately from good or evil, from pain or pleasure”
that we experience or expect to experience. For example, desire is a direct passion
because it is an immediate response to the pleasure we expect to feel. Other direct
passions include aversion, hope, fear, grief, and joy. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2016; Cohon, 2010)
Besides, Hume divided feelings into direct and indirect. The former resulted
from experiences of pleasure or pain. Such emotions like hunger, thirst, desire, and also
disgust, sadness, hope, fear, and despair belonged here. The latter were more compound
and arose upon connections between impressions and ideas, and strictly upon the
double relation between them. Indirect feelings were: pride, humility, ambition, vanity,
love, hate, jealousy, mercy, malice, nobility, and other connected to those.
Indirect passions are caused by the sensation of pain or pleasure derived from
some other idea or impression. For example, pride is a passion that emanated from the
pleasure you get for possessing something admirable (it could be intellect, physique,
property, family, etc.). Pride, therefore, is but a result of a person, the object of the
passion, and quality of the object. Other indirect passions are humility, ambition, vanity,
love, hatred, envy, pity, malice, generosity. (Blattner, 2017).

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 However, Hume acceded that there are instances wherein passion can be
unreasonable. He said this could happened when we make a mistake in judgment or our
opinion is wrong. Strictly speaking, it is not passion that can be called unreasonable in
these instances because it was the judgment or the opinion that was wrong in the first
place. Once the judgment or opinion is corrected, “passion yields to reason without any
opposition.” (Norton & Norton, 2007).

Scheler and the Philosophy of Feelings

Max Ferdinand Scheler was an important German Ethical philosopher
distinguished for his contributions in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical
anthropology. (Davis and Steinbock, 2016). As a phenomenologist, Scheler sought to
know what comprised the structures of consciousness, including that of mental acts such
as feeling, thinking, resolve, etc. – as well as the inherent objects or correlates of these
mental acts such as values, concepts, and plans (Frings, 2013).
In Max Ferdinand Scheler’s philosophy the emotion is the most important aspect
in human existence (Dy, 1986). Schelar asserted that emotions/feelings are inherent,
objective, and it exists even if you have not experienced it before (a priori). He also
claimed that feelings are independent of the mind; that is corresponds to the Divine Plane
(Chuhina, 1993; Frings, © 2017; Tymieniecka, 1993). According to Scheler, human feelings
are not chaotic. It is actually strict, exact, and objective. It follows a peculiar form of laws
that you cannot avoid in the subconscious and asserted that it is actually the “purest
sphere” of human consciousness. (Tymieniecka, 1993).
Scheler presented four strata of feelings. He claimed that these strata or levels are
constant and it follows and exact order of importance. He called these levels of feelings
as the “stratification model of emotive life”.
1. Sensual feelings
2. Vital feelings
3. Psychic feelings
4. Spiritual feelings
Sensual feelings involve bodily pleasures or pain. Vital feelings are the life
functions such as health, sickness, energy, fatigue, etc. Psychic feelings are avout
aesthetics, justice, and knowledge (scientific). Lastly, Spiritual feelings deal with the
Divine. (Moran and Parker, 2015).
According to Scheler, of the four, it is spiritual feelings alone that is intentional.
This means spiritual feelings are directed to the particular special object or a higher being
that he attributed to as the Divine. Scheler believed that values of the holy are the highest
of all values because it has the ability to endure through time. Thus, since it possessed
the nature of intent. Scheler philosophized that among all the four levels, spiritual feelings
is the most important (Moran and Parker, 2015).

The philosophical descriptions of feelings may seem unclear to many; so, we try
to contextualize feelings and look at scenarios where we could be aware of the underlying
emotions that we feel whenever we are confronted with different situations in our daily
living. Oftentimes, we are faced with moral dilemmas and issues that challenge us.
Actions that are based solely on feelings are sometimes good (especially when the
feelings involved are positive); but negative feelings also have bad moral consequences.
Consider the following actual scenarios and reflect:

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Situations Possible Possible Moral actions based on the feeling
Feelings/Emotions
A dirty beggar Disgust Morally correct: give food or money/help
begging for food Dislike out the dirty beggar as a result of feelings of
while you are Pity pity
eating in a Kindness Incorrect: shoving the beggar away/ feelings
restaurant Anger of disgust and anger for disturbing your
dinner
Your parents Anger Morally correct: being apologetic, feeling
scolding you Bitterness sorry
because you vengeful Incorrect: Vengeful reaction, talking back,
came home late Apologetic/feelings angered by the scolding
of being
sorry/repentant
Sight of an Pity Morally upright: helping out the child/
orphaned child Sympathy giving food, clothes/ facilitating for
begging in the Sadness assistance from welfare agencies like
streets Disgust or dislike DSWD/LGU
Incorrect: ignoring the child for lack of
sympathy/ disgusted by the dirty and smelly
child/ complaining about the government’s
lack of response to social injustices
Witnessing your Anger Morally incorrect: Gently Call out for the
neighbor, a wife Dislike husband to stop the beating (as a
being beaten by Hatred towards concerned public citizen)/ call the police if
her husband the husband the beating continues
Sympathy towards Incorrect: Ignoring the situation/ saying
the wife negative comments/ violently attacking the
husband/ Yelling in anger towards the
husband
Sitting in the Sympathy Correct: feelings of sympathy and
church watching Love of God understanding/ crying for being repentant/
others cry while happiness being happy because of God/ grateful to
praying Repentant God
Incorrect; laughing at those who cry/ looks
at the church as a venue for entertainment/
disgusted by the drama of crying
Seeing your Surprised Correct: observe their actions and evaluate
boyfriend or Jealousy their behavior/ make reasoned judgment/
girlfriend dining Anger resolve later in a private manner
with somebody bitterness Incorrect: approach in anger and yell/ being
from the violent, making a disturbing scene
opposite sex

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Please answer using your own understanding (10 points each)

1. What are feelings and emotions?

2. Summarize Hume’s description of feelings

3. Summarize Scheler’s description of feelings

4. How should we manage our emotions whenever we are confronted with surprising
situations that cause negative feelings?

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Unit 2: Reason and Impartiality as Requirements for Ethics

A. Reason and impartiality defined

(Number of learning hours: 1.5)

Recall a situation in your life where you were asked to make a decision, a rational decision.
What are your reasons for doing so?
Have you been asked to help somebody? What are your reasons for doing so?
Have you been tempted to cheat together with your classmates? What are your reasons
for doing so?
Have you experienced being in conflict with a friend? Did you resolve the situation? What
are your reasons for doing so?
Everyday we are bombarded with many experiences and decisions to make; and there are
reasons behind every decision we make.

What to expect?
Decisions, decisions. How do you make a rational, impartial decision? Aside from
discussing reason and impartiality, you will also learn the seven-step technique in
moral reasoning.

Exploratory quotes to reflect upon:

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 To think, to reflect, to reason, and to continue to learn from experiences through
sound reasoning - are the foundations of truth and gaining wisdom. What separates us
from the lower forms of animals is our ability to reason logically.

What is the definition of reason?

What is impartiality?

Is reason a requirement for morality?

A relevant definition of reason to our mind is “the power of the mind to think,
understand, and form judgments by a process of logic” (Merriam-Webster ©2017).
However, one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy,
Immanuel Kant, argued that reason alone is the basis for morality, and once the person
understood this basic requirement for morality he or she would see that acting morally is
the same as acting rationally (Beck, 1960). In Kant’s view, the definition of morality alone
shows that a person must decide what to do. You, as a person, are able to think and reflect

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on different actions and then choose what action to take. That a moral decision means
mere desires did not force you to act in a particular manner. You acted by the power of
your will.
As a student, you are constantly in turmoil on whether to study or not to study.
You know the importance of studying and the consequence of not studying. However,
you also know the importance of taking a break from the daily grind. So when exams are
coming and you feel so stressed from fulfillment of school requirements and you feel the
need to take a break – Kant’s argument if morality is based on reason, what is the moral
choice?

Is impartiality a requirement for morality?

Before discussing how impartiality is related to morality, it is important to
understand what impartiality is. It is a broad concept, but it is also identified as a core
value in professional code of ethics. Impartiality is commonly understood as a principle of
justice. It denotes that decisions should be “based on objective criteria rather than on the
basis of bias, prejudice, to benefit one person over another for improper reasons”
(Jollimore, 2011); impartiality stresses everyone ought to be given equal importance and
not favor one class (people, animals, or things) in a capricious way.
How is impartiality a requirement for morality? For example, during an exam you
saw your friend (how is sitting next to you) secretly open her notebook to look for an
answer on one of the test questions. Your teacher noticed that your classmate was doing
something suspicious. He called your classmate and asked if she was cheating. She
surreptitiously closed her notebook and answered, “No”. Your teacher did not trust your
classmate’s answer, so he asked you. What will you say? According to philosopher and
Professor Dr. James Rachels, for your decision to be moral, you should think how your
answer will affect your friend, your teacher and the rest of your classmates, and how it
will affect you as a person. An impartiality involves basing your decision on how all the
persons in the situation will be affected and not to the advantage of a particular party
that you favor.
Thus, for the question, “are reason and impartiality a requirement for morality?”
Let us go back to what Dr. Rachels (2004) said: morality “at the very least is the effort to
guide one’s action based on the most logical choice (reason) while giving equal
importance to the interest of each person affected by your decisions (impartiality)”.

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Reason + Impartiality = Morality/Ethical Behavior

To reason is to use the capacity of one’s intellect to logically make a sound judgment. To
find reasons, we reflect, we seek for advice, we seek wisdom from God, we study, we
read, we explore, we weight consequences, and internalize situations. To be impartial is
to be fair and equal and to think of the consequences of one’s action to all people
concerned.

Reflect on the following cases and decide what is supposed to be done based on reason
and impartiality (collaboration with others is highly encouraged):

Case 1: Bryan posted on social media his complaints and bad comments about a particular
restaurant he dislikes. He said that he did that out of concern to others in order to avoid
waste of money on the part of the customers.

Case 2: Karen found out that she failed in Math. She was assuming that she passed
because all of her quizzes and exams were within passing score. When she approached
her teacher, the teacher told Karen that a classmate reported that she cheated in the last
exam. This shocked Karen because she knew she did not cheat.

Case 3: One radio reporter announced erroneous information over the radio, which
destroyed the reputation of an elected official in the government. The reporter is now
possibly faced with a libel case.

1. Why is careful reasoning important in making moral judgment? (10 points)

2. Impartiality and injustice are inseparable words. Explain (10 points)

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Unit 3: Moral Courage

B. Why the will is as important as reason? Developing the Will

(Number of learning hours: 3)

What was your most important moral experience last year? How did you go about
formulating and coming up with a decision? What did you actually do? Was your decision
and action aligned with your moral principles? Why do you say so?

We now discuss our responsibility for our actions and the voluntary nature of moral
purpose. It takes reason, integrity of purpose, moral courage, and will power to stand up
for what you believe is morally right!

Watch a movie depicting moral courage. Write a short reflection about the movie. What
was the moral dilemma that the main character faced? What did the main character go
through in standing up facing moral principles? Was the main character correct in
showing moral courage on such situation? Defend your answer.

Moral courage is the courage to put your moral principles into action even though
you may be in doubt, are afraid, or face adverse consequences. Moral courage involves
careful deliberation and master of the self. Moral courage is essential not for only a
virtuous life, but also a happy one because integrity is essential to self-esteem.
However, according to philosopher Mark Johnson, acting morally often requires
more than just strength of character (Drumwright and Murphy, 2004). Johnson added it
is important to have “an ability to imaginatively discern various possibilities for acting
within a given situation to envision the potential help and harm that are likely to result
from a given action (Johnson, 1994).” This ability is called moral imagination.

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 Moral imagination is “ability in which circumstances to discover and evaluate
possibilities not merely determined by that circumstance or limited by its operative
mental mode or merely framed by a set of rules by rule-governed concerns (Werhane,
1999).” Although it is a necessary component, most imagination is not sufficient alone for
moral decision-making. Moral reasoning is still needed.
How can one practice moral courage? This is where the “will” comes into play. It
takes determination and willpower to action and stand by your moral principles.

What is “will”?
Generally, “will” is the mental capacity to act decisively on one’s desire. It is the
faculty of the mind to initiate action after coming to a resolution following careful
deliberation (Joachim, 1952). Within Ethics, “will” is an important topic along with reason
because of its role in enabling a person to act deliberately.
On the concept of “will” in Classical Philosophy, Aristotle said: “The soul in living
creatures is distinguished by two functions, the judging capacity which is function of the
intellect and of sensation combined, and the capacity for exciting movement in space.”
(Hett, 1964).

Why is the “will” as important as reason?

Aristotle believed that “will” is the product of intellect and sensation; and that
“will” gave the person the capacity for “exciting movement in space”. For example, Riza
is torn between buying a new smart phone now. On the other hand, she would be
nowhere near her target travel date because here savings is still far from enough. Riza
weighed the pros and cons between buying a new phone and saving up for her trip.
Eventually, she decided to walk away from the store and go to the bank to deposit her
money. It was Riza’s “will” that enabled her to walk out of the store without buying the
phone she liked.

Developing the “will”

Aristotle discussed the difference between what people decide to do and what
they actually do. In Aristotle’s philosophy, using the intellect to decide is just one part of
the moral decision. The resolve to put the decision into action is the role of the “will”. He
said since vice and virtues are up to us, to become just by the practice of just actions; self-
control by exercising self-control; and courageous by practicing acts of courage (as
translated by Baird, 2016)”
Self-mastery therefore is the product of the “will” that is achieved by actually
putting rational, moral choice into action.

To decide and make moral judgments

is an act of freedom, not by force. The person
must always exercise reason and free will or
the good will. True freedom is doing what is
good and just. Man is rational (created with
intellect and will) and therefore like God, he
is created with free will and a master of all
his acts. To be morally courageous is to stand
up for what is right and act on the decision
out of free and reasoned will.

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 SUMMATIVE TEST

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: _____________

Course-Year-Section: _________________________________ Score: ____________

Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter that corresponds to your answer.

1. Which of the statement below is David Hume’s thesis in ethics?

a. Reason alone cannot be a motive to the will, but rather is the “slave of the
passions”.
b. While some virtues and vices are natural, others (including justice) are artificial.
c. Moral distinction is the result of reason.
d. Moral distinctions are derived from the moral sentiments.

2. Which of the statements do not describe Max Ferdinand Scheler’s stratification model
of emotive life?
a. Pleasure and pain are on the sensation level.
b. Psychic feelings involve the metaphysical and paranormal.
c. Your physical, mental, and emotional health are vital feelings.
d. Spiritual feelings deal with the Divine.

3. Dr. James Rachels asserted that you could not rely on feelings in moral reasoning. This
means that:
a. Feelings can be a product of your prejudice, selfishness, or cultural conditioning.
b. Feelings are moved by rational arguments.
c. Feelings are biased but still correct.
d. None of the above.

4. Which of the situations below describes David Hume’s view on the role of feelings in
decision-making?
a. I will not give money to the beggar because this will not develop the right attitude
in him.
b. I will not give money to beggar because it is against the law.
c. I will not give money to beggar because I do not have any money.
d. I will not give money to beggar because I don’t trust him.

5. Which of the situations below describe Immanuel Kant’s argument on reason as basis
for morality?
a. I want to study but I feel like partying.
b. It is okay to party; schools will not go anywhere anyway.
c. I want to party, but I have to prioritize.
d. Partying and studying go together well.

6. Which of the following is not the characteristic of the “will”?

a. It is strength of character.
b. It is mental capacity to act decisively on one’s desire.
c. It is resolved to put the decision into action.
d. Its product is self-mastery.

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7. Which of the expression below are the characteristics of feelings?
a. “I don’t really know why I behave the way I did.”
b. “I really feel sorry about the victims, but I also have a big problem right now.”
c. Both A and B.
d. Neither A nor B.

8. How do emotions help make the right decision?

a. Emotional responses can be reshaped as time pass by.
b. It signals the need to adjust behavior.
c. It can help us learn from our mistakes.
d. All of the above

9. Eric witnessed a kid being bullied. One of the bullies told Eric not to report what he
saw and threatened him if he does. Which of the actions below portray moral
courage?
a. Eric threw a rock at the bullies so the bullied kid can run away.
b. Eric walked on pretending he did not see the incident.
c. Eric just told his friends what happened hoping that the news will spread and
eventually reach the principal.
d. Eric stood up to the bully and reported the incident to their principal.

10. Janice, the SBO President found out there was discrepancy in their finances and that
her best friend Becky, who was also their Treasurer, mishandled the money. Janice
needed to talk to her best friend about the problem, but not knowing this was a
sensitive issue that will affect their friendship, she needed the best approach. Which
among the statements below followed the seven-step model?
a. First, Janice listed down the possible sanctions she can impose on Becky. Then she
talked to Becky personally to hear her side. After listening to her best friend, Janice
weighed the pros and cons about telling their Adviser regarding the problem.
Eventually, Janice sought help from their adviser and Becky was kicked out of the
school.
b. Janice gathered all the documents and identified other parties involved. She then
clearly identified her dilemma involving her best friend and listed all the possible
actions she can take. She weighed all the pros and cons of the satiation before she
went to talk to Becky privately bringing the documents with her.
c. Janice was so surprised that Becky had the nerve to use the money, so she called
Becky up and confront her right away.
d. Janice went to her Adviser. The both talked to Becky.

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