General Ethics

Learning Module No. 2#

Learning Module on General Ethics

STUDENT
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Learning Module on General Ethics

 LEARNING MODULE INFORMATION
I. Course Code ETHICS 202
II. Course Title General Ethics
III. Module Number 02
IV. Module Title The Act
V. Overview of the Module This module explains the role and influence of feelings in
decision making. This part of the class module explains the
different approaches and views of great philosophers about
moral feelings, reason, freedom, etc.
This part of the module also explains why will is important as
our reason.
VI. Module Outcomes At the end of this module, the learners are expected to
become aware and understand the roles and limits of feelings
in decision-making, reflect on their personal ways to make
decisions in life, and think critically on different case
studies/situations through written applications.
VII. General Instructions
You must allot the necessary time to complete the lessons each week. If
you choose not to complete the lesson using the schedule provided, you
must understand that it is your full responsibility to complete them by the
last day of completion. Time is of the essence.

The module is designed to assess student understanding of the assigned

lessons found within the associated content of the midterm and final
period of the course. The assessment part of the module is composed of
varied types of questions. You may see true/false, traditional multiple
choice, matching, multiple answer, completion, and/or essay. Pay
attention to the answer to the assessment questions as you move through
each lesson. After each module you will be given a summative test. Your
responses to the assessment parts of the module will be checked and
recorded.

Because the assessment questions are available within the whole

completion period and because you can reference the answers to the
questions within the content modules, we will not release the answers
within modules. However, your professors are happy to discuss the
assessments with you during their consultation time, should you have any
questions.

Budget your time wisely and effectively. Enjoy. Good luck!

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Lesson 1: Feelings and Moral Decision-making

Lesson Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

 Define the meaning of conscience

 Become aware of how feelings and reasons can influence our life decisions
 Research on the different types of conscience and how it affects each
individual in decision-making
Getting Started:
Personal Reflection (no need to answer in answer sheet)

1. If it is possible for your conscience to lead you astray, is it wise to follow conscience
rather than reason?

2. In this time of pandemic, would you share your few stocks of food to the less fortunate
or your neighbors even though you know that it can only last for a week?

Discussion:

I. Feelings and Moral Decision-Making

What does it mean for us to experience what is right and what is wrong, to have a
conscience, or to show conviction on the things we that are right? Most parts in our lives
especially when we reach the range of adulthood, we are required to make big decisions.
Big decisions that can have great effects in the course of our lives.
A. Conscience

According to Thompson (2010), conscience is an

inner conviction or a stand about something which is
right and which is not. Conscience is always present in
each individual who is on the right disposition. But
conscience itself remains a mysterious phenomenon
that is still being debated until now by different people.
A person’s conscience may be troubled even if they Fig. 1
have tried to follow ethical guidelines, or have fulfilled Retrieved from https://harveymackay.com/be-
conscious-of-your-conscience/
the expectations of others or the society. We should

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know that conscience cannot be a tool for a logical argument and more likely it is founded
on the emotional side of a human being. For thousands of years, many philosophers and great
leaders coined emotion as a dangerous factor in making logical arguments and decisions. So,
what part can and does conscience play within Ethics?

For religious institutions, conscience may be

thought of as the “inner voice of God” guiding an
individual to a more graceful path. More likely as a
“natural law” internalized and molded, relating moral
choice to fundamental features of the world (seen in
religious terms as God’s creation). Something that can
be based on the purpose of man and their final goal. Of
course, each religion differs from the others.

For secular discussions (without any influence of

religion) according to Agapay (2008), Conscience is the
Fig. 2 practical judgement of reason telling us what should be
Retrieved from https://www.simplycatholic.com/what-is- done because it is good (But how can we conclude that
conscience/
it is universally good?). Conscience is likely to be seen as
the natural sensitivity to ethical issues – perhaps even as
an unconscious way in which people try to apply moral principles to the particular situation
they face. Though it comes from something natural within an individual, some debates and
secular discussions believed that conscience should not be the result to arrive to a moral
justification. Can a thief clear his conscience by taking the food and money of others because
his family is already starving to death? But it is also possible to argue that there is a biological
basis for conscience; and that is, we are genetically programmed by emotions that promote
the survival of our tribe or species.

Though conscience was mentioned a while ago that it is more of an emotional factor,
an individual cannot set it aside when it comes to decisions. The moral decisions may
sometimes require serious study and deliberation. But urging of conscience is often
spontaneous and instantaneous. Therefore, conscience is being considered by believers as
“Inner voice of God” or for others as a practical judgement of reasoning in making a moral
decision.

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B. Feelings (Emotion)
According to Myers (2020) in Psychology,
emotion is often defined as complex state of feeling
that results in physical and psychological changes
that influence thought and behavior. Emotionality is
associated with a range of psychological
phenomena, including temperament, personality,
mood, and motivation.

In Ethics, as one of the branches of Philosophy,

“moral emotions” is the other term for feelings and
Fig. 3
intuitions. It plays a major role in most of the moral Retrieved from https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/feelings-
decisions as mentioned from the previous section. day

In the Filipino context, emotions often become

part of decision-making. This leads to double standard way of living or mentality. A thinking in
which they set aside the logical statements and involving more the feelings or the end of acts.
Filipino Values are described as ambivalent, because they are either advantageous or
disadvantageous to the person. For instance, the value of family closeness promotes love and
mutual care, but at the same time promotes dependence, lack of self-confidence and
initiative among its members.
The double-standard mentality may be corrected by removing its causes: ignorance,
complacency, and rationalization.

1.) The Filipino does not often bother with the

complexity of a situation, but plunges headlong into
action propelled by the impulse of “bahala na”, The
Filipino, therefore must not be gullible, and learn how
good fortune is the result of thinking and planning.
Instead of putting his hope on luck or “suerte”, he must
trust himself or seek guidance from reliable persons from
reliable persons, not from charlatans, visionaries, and
street-wise preachers. He must distinguish between the
Fig. 4 fantasies of the movie and the reality of flesh and blood.
Retrieved from
https://steemit.com/philippines/@stachph/filipinos-are-
family-oriented-wherever-they-go
2.) The Filipino must free himself from the belief that
his life is a matter of destiny, and everything that

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happens is “tinalaga ng Diyos”, “Ganyan talaga ang buhay” expresses resignation

to one’s misfortunes. But instead of resigning to his fate, one must strive harder to
improve his life.

3.) The Filipino must revolutionize his way of thinking. Instead of rationalizing, investing
excuses for his mistakes, one must accept and correct them. He must assume
responsibility over his actions, and not blame others. Rationalization is making
“palusot” or lame excuses.

These are just few of the realities shown by Filipinos. Though they became part of the
characteristics of our ancestors and the modern citizens, they have a lot of disadvantages
and most of it are related to decision making that prevents them to keep moving forward.
Emotion plays a big part in these ambivalent characters of a Filipino.

C. How moral emotions influence people in moral decisions or moral actions?

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.
Fig. 5 This discourages other behaving the same way.
Retrieved from
Positive emotions like gratitude and
https://steemit.com/philippines/@stachph/filipinos-are-family-
oriented-wherever-they-go
admiration, which people may feel when they
see another acting with compassion or kindness, can prompt people to help others.
Emotions evoked by suffering, such as sympathy and empathy, often lead people to
act ethically toward other. Indeed, empathy is the central moral emotion that most commonly
motivates prosocial activity such as altruism, cooperation, and generosity.
So, while we may believe that our moral decisions are influenced most by our philosophy
or religious values, in truth our emotions play a significant role in our moral decision-making.

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Summary of the Lesson:

1. Conscience is an inner conviction or a stand about something which is right and which
is not.

2. Conscience is always present in each individual who is on the right disposition.

3. For religious institutions, conscience may be thought of as the “inner voice of God”
guiding an individual to a more graceful path.

4. According to Myers (2020) in Psychology, emotion is often defined as complex state of

feeling that results in physical and psychological changes that influence thought and
behavior.

5. In the Filipino context, emotions often become part of decision-making. This leads to
double standard way of living or mentality.
6. Inner-directed negative emotions like guilt, embarrassment, and shame often
motivate people to act ethically.

7. Outer-directed negative emotions aim to discipline or punish.

8. While we may believe that our moral decisions are influenced most by our philosophy
or religious values, in truth our emotions play a significant role in our moral decision-
making.

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Lesson 2: Reason and Impartiality as Minimum Requirements for Morality

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

 Understand the importance of Reason and Impartiality in the context of

Morality.
 Identify the different perspective of philosophers about the conscience.

Getting Started:
Personal Reflection (no need to answer in answer sheet)

1. Is it just to say that you are to be blamed for the actions you don’t have any choice or
simply just commanded by an authority?

2. If impartiality means not favoring over one person, then considering chronic illnesses
and disabled persons are not exempted. Correct or not? Why?

Discussion:

For the experience of conscience to make any sense, it seems to require two things:
a. Reason - the power of the mind to think, understand,
and form judgments by a process of logic.
b. Impartiality - can be described as the principle that
decisions ought to be based on objective criteria, rather
than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring to benefit
one person over another for improper reasons.

If you are not free to decide what to do, then you cannot
be blamed for what happens. Morality implies freedom and a
mind capable of understanding the significance of that Fig. 6
freedom. That is logical, but it applies to conscience, for Retrieved from

conscience is only experienced in the context of free moral https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/341957

3/genius_philosopher_thinker_thinking_m
choice. an_thinking_person_icon

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Of course, nobody is completely free (as we have experienced also) but for conscience
to operate, we need to experience sufficient freedom to be aware of having a real choice
about what to do.

Conscience also implies some innate knowledge of what is ‘good’. Without that, it is
difficult to make any sense of conscience, since having a conscience about something implies
that there is something we ‘should’ do (or should have done, if we have guilty conscience) –
which implies that we know what the right thing is.

A. Three Different Approaches

The following are three thinkers that are particularly interesting as a starting point to consider the
nature of conscience.

Thomas Aquinas Joseph Butler Sigmund Freud

Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9

Retrieved from Retrieved from Retrieved from
https://thegreatthinkers.org/aquinas/biogra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Butl https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sigmu
phy/ er nd-Freud

He considered conscience to He recognizes that people were A different approach which he

be the requirements of God’s influenced by the need for self- associated conscience with a
law written within the heart. preservation as well as a natural sense of guilt, arguing that,
Thus, even those who do not kindness towards other. through an early age, we learn
understand Christian teaching Conscience is somewhat values that continue to influence
have a natural sense of right hierarchical and priority must be our moral awareness and
and wrong, given directly by given to it, which had the conscience later in life. He called
God. Hence, we should always function of sorting out the conscience as a “super-ego” or
the things our parents or
follow our conscience with conflicting claims of self-love
guardians want us to be as we
moral principles. and kindness towards other.
grow older.
Conscience is innate. Conscience is innate. Conscience is Acquired.

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Throughout the course of the development of discussion in conscience, many have also
tried to explain the nature of it. What do you think about conscience, is it something innate or
acquired?

B. The 7-Step Moral Reasoning Model

Moral reasoning is sometimes affected by emotions which blinds us from deciding and
seeing what acts are needed to do what is right from wrong. So in order to decide and do
what is actually right, we must do these steps in order to fairly do an act and not be bias about
anything.
1. First step in the Moral Reasoning Model is to gather the facts. Some moral dilemmas
can be resolved just by clarifying facts of the case in question. But in more complex
cases, gathering the facts is the indispensable first step before any ethical analysis
and reflection of the case. In examining a case, we want to know the available facts
at hand, as well as any facts presently known but that need to be determined. We
must ask not only “what do we know?” in order to generate an intelligent, ethical
decision.

2. Second step is determining the ethical issues. The moral issues should be correctly
stated in terms of competing interests. It is this conflicting interest that practically
make for a moral dilemma. The issues must be presented in a P vs. Q format to reflect
the interest that are colliding in a specific moral dilemma. For instance, many ethical
decisions, especially at the end of the patient’s life, can be stated in terms of patient
autonomy (or something right to make his/her decision about medical care) vs. the
sanctity of life (the duty to preserve life).
3. Third step is identifying the principles that have a bearing on the case. In any moral
dilemma, there are sure moral values or principles that are vital to the rival positions
being taken. It is very significant to recognize there principles, and in some cases, to
decide whether some principles are to be weighted more heavily than others.

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4. Forth step is listing the alternatives. This step involves

coming up with various alternative courses of action
as part of the creative thinking included in resolving
a moral dilemma. Though there will be some
alternatives which you will rule out without much
thought, in general, the more alternatives that are
listed, the better chance your list will include some
Fig. 10
high-quality ones. Also you may come up with some Retrieved from
very creative alternatives that you had not https://smallbusiness.co.uk/buying-business-
checklist-2548400/
considered before.

5. Fifth is comparing the alternatives with the principles. This step involves eliminating
alternatives according to the moral principles that have a bearing on the case. In
many cases, the case will be resolved at this point, since the principles will remove
all alternatives except one. The purpose of this comparison is to determine the
forthcoming, then the next step in the model should be considered. Some
alternatives, at the least, may be rejected by this step of comparison.
6. Sixth step is weighing the consequences. If the principles do not produce a clear
decision, then a consideration of the consequences of the remaining available
alternatives are in order. Both positive and negative consequences are to be
considered. They should be informally weighted since some positive consequences
are more beneficial than the others, and some negative consequences are more
detrimental than others.
7. The last step is making decision. Since deliberation ought not to go on forever, a
decision must be made at some point. It must be realized that one common element
to more dilemmas is that there are no easy and painless solutions to them. Normally,
the decision that is made is one that possesses the least number of problems or
negative consequences, not one that is devoid of them.

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Summary of the Lesson:

1. Reason is the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process
of logic.
2. Impartiality can be described as the principle that decisions ought to be based on
objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring to benefit one
person over another for improper reasons.

3. For Aquinas, he considered conscience to be the requirements of God’s law written

within the heart.

4. For Butler, he recognizes that people were influenced by the need for self-preservation
as well as a natural kindness towards other.
5. For Freud, he associated conscience with a sense of guilt, arguing that, through an early
age, we learn values that continue to influence our moral awareness and conscience
later in life.
6. In order to decide and do what is actually right, we must do these steps in order to fairly
do an act and not be bias about anything.

Learning Module on General Ethics