Chapter 11 Feelings and Reason emotions.pptx

emotions

1. Feelings and Reason Module 11

2. Feelings and moral decision-making

3. Feeling-based theories in Ethics

4. Ethical subjectivism It holds that there are no objective moral properties and that ethical statements are in fact arbitrary because they do not express immutable truths. Instead, moral statements are made true or false by the attitudes and/or conventions of the observers , and any ethical sentence just implies an attitude, opinion, personal preference or feeling held by someone. Thus, for a statement to be considered morally right merely means that it is met with approval by the person of interest. 

5. Variants of Ethical Subjectivism Simple subjectivism (Ethical Subjectivism) The view (largely as described above) that ethical statements reflect sentiments, personal preferences and feelings rather than objective facts.  Individualist subjectivism the view (originally put forward by Protagoras) that there are as many distinct scales of good and evil as there are individuals in the world . It is effectively  a form of Egoism , which maintains that every human being ought to pursue what is in his or her self-interest exclusively.  Moral relativism (Ethical relativism) the view that for a thing to be morally right is for it to be approved of by society , leading to the conclusion that different things are right for people in different societies and different periods in history.

6. Emotivism

7. Feelings can help in making the right decision Don’t accept the problem as given. How choices are framed can sway your choices in ways that may contradict your core beliefs. Generate multiple options and assess them against one another instead of considering them in isolation.  Listen to both your heart and head. Issues of right and wrong matter deeply to us , as they should. Twinges of disgust or shame may be internal signals that we are nearing the outer bounds of acceptable behavior. But we should also reflect on the sources of our feelings, be they negative or positive, as they may be triggered by associations that have nothing to do with the matter at hand.  Watch your language. How we name things exposes (or masks) the nature of our actions and their consequences . Firings become layoffs, layoffs become downsizing, and downsizing becomes right-sizing. The action may be unavoidable, but we should not sugarcoat the fact that people who once worked with or for us are now jobless.  Take special care in dimly lit places . Your actions—and ultimately even your values—are influenced by the company you keep .  Be modest about your virtue. Most of us believe that we are more ethical than are others. Countless experiments and real-life examples, however, should remind us that people who are most self-righteous may be most likely to slip.  Understand why others transgress. Some lapses may be due to moral failure, but others can be caused by external factors that have little to do with their fundamental nature. Refrain from judging a person’s core character, positively or negatively, on the basis of a single event.  Don’t give up on yourself (or on others). An ancient proverb says, “Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future.” Honest reflection about the past, coupled with a measure of humility, can serve as foundation for leading a responsible life going forward.