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Lapu-Lapu City College

STEC, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
_________________________________________________________________

SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE

For B.S.I.T students

Prepared by:

Mrs. Dorcas C. Revillas

Course Instructor

This module is prepared for

Name of Student

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QUARTER 2
__________________________
THE ACT

After completion of this course, students will be able to;

• Describe what a moral experience is as it happens in different levels of
human existence
• Define and explain the terms that are relevant to ethical thinking
• Identify the ethical aspect oh human life and the scope of ethical thinking

This section addresses the following questions:

❖ What is the role of feelings in moral decisions? What are the disadvantages of
over-reliance on feelings?
❖ How can we make reasoned and impartial decisions?
❖ Why is reason not enough in carrying out decisions?

Lesson 1: FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION -MAKING

a. Feelings as instinctive and trained response to moral dilemmas
- Why they can be obstacles to making the right decisions
- How they can help in making the right decisions

Lesson 2: REASON AND IMPARTIALITY AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR MORALITY

a. Reason and impartiality defined
b. The 7-step moral reasoning model

Lesson 3: MORAL COURAGE

a. Why the will is important as reason
b. Developing the will.

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LESSON 1

FEELINGS AND MORAL DECISION -MAKING

What are feelings and emotions?

Before we this discourse, let us differentiate feelings and emotions.

FEELINGS

• Is the nominalization of the verb to feel.

• The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation
of touch through either experience or perception.
• The word is also used to describe experiences other than the physical sensation
of touch, such as” a feeling of warmth “ and sentience in general

FEELINGS
• 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
• Experts thinks it is possible to make any important moral judgments without
emotions.
In Latin, “sentire” meant to feel, hear or smell. In psychology, the word is usually reserved
for the conscious subjective experience of emotions.

No one can deny the fact that when the human person is placed in a moral dilemma, his
or her decisions can also be greatly affected by his/her feelings.

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EMOTIONS:
• That is to say feelings and intuitions- plays a major role in most of the ethical
decisions people make.
• 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:
• are biological states associated with the nervous system brought on by
neurophysiological changes variously associated with thoughts, feelings,
behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure There is currently
no scientific consensus on a definition.
• Emotions are often intertwined with moods, temperament, personality, creativity,
and motivation.

No one can deny the fact that when the human person is placed in a moral dilemma, his
or her decisions can also be greatly affected by his/ her feelings.

The moral decision that man makes will definitely not be fully objective.
• For instance, one’s decision regarding the morality of death penalty will vary if he
is placed in a situation wherein his family is greatly affected by murderous act. A
person who is never a victim of any crime may view death penalty as morally
unacceptable. At the same time, a person who has a very close relative indicted
for robbery may cry for forgiveness while those who do not have such may demand
punishment.
In this regard, a moral decision can be a product of feelings or emotions

The ethics of Love

Many people are confused between love and emotions. We think that emotions
are strong because of love for it propels people to feel it. We have to refute this
perverted claim, in the scientific world emotions can be seen through the face of
the doer, from there we can discern happiness, sadness, anger and content but
what moves them, it is not love but drives. if we succeed in doing so, we felt happy
and contented if not it led to frustration that may later result into anger or sadness.
In short, emotions, are simply attachments that resulted due to man’s desire, Love on the
other hand is an intense feeling of deep affection that is also a drive but compared to
emotion which is solely aggrandizement, love does not necessarily have to be
reciprocated. In relation to love when it comes to moral decision such love is acceptable
as long as it guided by morality and reason.

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During the early part of philosophizing, David Hume(1711-1776)

believed virtue is in conformity to reason. Like truth, morality is
discerned merely by ideas. In order to distinguish the good and
the bad, we have to consider the reason alone.

• Philosophers during the time of Hume, placed greater

emphasis on the prominence of reason over feelings

• Western Philosophers were actually reacting to the position held by the church
scholars who asserted that religious apologist, moral decisions must be rooted in
religious laws and doctrines

During the ancient period, Plato (423BC-347BC) would argue

that the foundation of the reasons I to rule the appetites and
emotions. He held that the mind or the intellect, which is the
highest level of the soul, is that immortal part of the soul that gives
man the capacity to truth and wisdom.

Then, the Stoics up that human persons must be able to learn to

control his position with reason in order to live a moral life.

For Hume, the central fact about ethics is that moral judgments are formed not by
reasons alone but through feelings.

Hume held that moral decisions would always involve feelings or emotions.
➢ For instance, because I will feel sympathetic pain on my friend whose brother is
brutally killed by a gunman, I will surely develop a moral condemnation on the
action of the killer. However, if somebody will do charitable deed of feeding a street
children, I will feel sympathetic pleasure that person. Such pleasure originates from
my moral approval of the good deed,

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• From the point of view of Hume, moral sentiments are found in all people. Everyone
has instinctive capacity to praise and uphold moral actions performed by person
to others.

• According to Hume, basing ourselves on experience, our moral decisions are

based not on judgments based on reason but on feelings. More so, our experience
tells us that we have sympathetic feelings of pleasure and pain in response to a
range of virtuous characteristic that people possess.

• It is obvious that Hume, believed that feelings and agreeableness can be

considered a clear criterion of moral judgment. He believed that behavior is
considered virtuous if it is useful or agreeable to people who are affected by the
action being considered.

• The some religious –moralist critique Hume’s moral point of view because Hue did
not include the role of God in determining the morality of one’s action. For this
reason, the religious moralist would consider Hume’s moral philosophy to be weak
and groundless.

How are decisions effected by emotion?

Emotions are created when the brain interprets what’s 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.
For example, if you’re feeling happy, you might decide to walk home via a sunny park.
But if you’d been chased by a dog as a child, that same sunny park might trigger feelings
of fear, and you’d take the bus instead. There may be logical arguments to be made either
way, but in the moment, the decision is driven by your emotional state.
Different emotions effect decisions in different ways. If you’re 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. But sadness can also
make you more generous — research shows that unhappy people are more likely to be
in favor of increasing benefits to welfare recipients than angry people, who are lacking in
empathy.
Emotions can affect not just the nature of the decision, but the speed at which you make
it. Anger can lead to impatience, and rash decision-making. If you’re excited, you might
make quick decisions without considering the implications, as you surf the wave of
confidence, and optimism about the future. While if you feel afraid, your decisions may
be clouded by uncertainty, and caution, and it might take you longer to choose.
Decisions led by emotion can also be more compassionate, particularly if they effect other
people. We see this at play in stories of people putting their own lives at risk to save
someone else, or when we choose how to break difficult news to a friend.
So sometimes paying attention to our emotions can be a good thing. If you have a regular
mindfulness, or journaling practice, you probably know yourself well, and enjoy a high
level of self-awareness. You might be better off listening to your intuition when it comes
to considering whether a romantic partner is right for you, or whether you should change
careers.

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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 you
understand where your emotions come from, and start to notice how they affect your
thinking and behavior, you can practice managing your response, and learn to make
better choices.

What are the disadvantages of over-reliance on feelings?

❖ You don't let other people help you. This can lead to your being overwhelmed or
making others feel bad because they feel like you are snubbing them or not
opening up to them.
❖ Feminization of love and pacifism, allowing verbal and mental abuse by over
tolerating all sorts of nasty and evil done against you in the name of “social virtue”
and “to be nice”.
❖ Depression, long term acceptance and mental denial of abuse would lead to
psychosis and cognitive dissonance, that even psychotropic drugs and mental
hospital will not help you, only you can help yourself to recover.
❖ Deception and deceit, to live in a mental and emotional lie where your world is
gentle, full of nice people that does not and WILL NOT ever exist because they
don't, humans are both Violent and Kind, Honest and Dishonesty, humans will
take advantage of you if they find Weakness in the mind and emotions.

Rely on truth, tough love, and reality of what had happened objectively in physical
evidence, feel your emotions to what have happened, feel the pain or joy and embrace
the harshness or kindness by nature.

Enjoy the pain and suffering of life as a lesson and the joy of learning and growing through
trials and difficulties to become a mentally, spiritually and emotionally strong person
based in and on TRUTH.

Emotion and moral judgment

Moral decision-making is a key asset

for humans’ integration in social
contexts, and the way we decide
about moral issues seems to be
strongly influenced by emotions. For
example, individuals with deficits in
emotional processing tend to deliver
more utilitarian choices (accepting an
emotionally aversive action in favor of
communitarian well-being). However,
little is known about the association between emotional experience and moral-related
patterns of choice.
Moral decision-making is an essential asset for humans’ integration in social contexts.
Emotional processes contribute to moral judgment by assigning affective value to the
moral decision-making scenarios, thus guiding the distinction between acceptable and
inacceptable behaviors.

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Feelings as Instinctive Response to Moral Dilemmas

Some ethicists believe that ethics is also a matter of emotion. They hold that moral
judgments at their best should also be emotional. Feelings are seen as also necessary in
ethical judgment as they are even deemed by some as instinctive a trained response to
moral dilemmas. Some hold that reason and emotion are not really opposites. Both
abstract inference and emotional intuitions or instincts are seen as having relative roles
ethical thinking. For one thing, feelings or emotions are said to be judgments about the
accomplishment of one's goals. Emotions, it is thus concluded, can be rational being
based at least sometimes on good judgments about how well a circumstance or agent
accomplishes appropriate objectives. Feelings are also visceral or instinctual by providing
motivations to act morally.

Although it admits that moral judgments are 'truth bearers,' Ethical Subjectivism holds that
the truth or falsity of ethical propositions is dependent on the feelings, attitudes, or
standards of a person or group. Contrary to the belief that morality is about objective facts,
this theory states that moral judgments describe our personal feelings.

Why can feelings be an obstacle to making the right decision?

There are two types of feelings. Ones based on facts and ones based on
intuition. Intuition is just a name for a feeling based on assumption. So, if you
base your decision on that it has 50% chance to be right on average.
On the other hand, feelings that are based on facts can be useful in making decisions but
facts are really hard to come by. Only thing you can be sure of is your experiences. You
can experience seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting, feeling and thoughts. You
can never know if the content is the correct representation of reality or your mind is miss
firing.
In reality there is no such thing as a right decision. There are just decisions and their
consequences. You could never predict what will be the consequences of any decision in
the long run. It's just beyond the human capacity to do so.

We make all our decisions based on

feelings

How Your Emotions Influence Your

Decisions

According to Herbert Simon, American Nobel Laureate scientist, “In order to have
anything like a complete theory of human rationality, we have to understand what role
emotion plays in it.”
As Dr. Simon and others have pointed out, emotions influence, skew or sometimes
completely determine the outcome of a large number of decisions we are confronted with

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in a day. Therefore, it behooves all of us who want to make the best, most objective
decisions to know all we can about emotions and their effect on our decision-making.

1. Every feeling begins with an external stimulus, whether it's what someone said or
a physical event. That stimulus generates an unfelt emotion in the brain, which
causes the body to produce responsive hormones. These hormones enter the
bloodstream and create feelings, sometimes negative and sometimes positive.

2. When we feel threatened by something, the initial emotion is labeled “fear." That
fear, by means of hormones, results in the production of fight-or-flight responsive
feelings, allowing our body to react quickly and appropriately for its own self-
preservation. This emotional reaction happens suddenly and unconsciously. Then,
usually after an extremely short period of time, we become aware of those
changes. We become aware of them only after responsive hormones have entered
our bloodstream and we experience them as a feeling of being frightened or
perhaps inferior.

• Name what you are deciding. You don’t need the Emotion Wheel for this, but you
do need to consider exactly what the problem is and the ramifications of your
proposed solution.

• Recognize and name all feelings you are experiencing in connection with the
decision.

• Bring your feelings inward through the middle circle to identify its root cause (an
emotion).

• Process that emotion, not one of its symptoms (a feeling).

• Be aware of whether you want to make a decision from this specific emotion or if
you want to adjust the course.

Why is moral decision making important?

• 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.
• Moral decision making has the ability to produce a reasonable and defensible
answer to an ethical question.
• 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.

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Activity no 1: Something to do. Answer the following question in your own

words.

1. Are emotions compatible with free choice?

2. Are emotions morally valuable?

3. Should emotions be taken into account in the evaluation of wrongful acts?

4. Are we morally responsible for our emotions? Why and why not

5. What is the relation between emotions and feelings?

6. Are emotions disruptive episodes or vital forces

7. Do emotions help us to resolve conflicting moral duties?

8. What is the role of feelings in moral decision-making?

9. How does emotions affect reasoning?

10. What is the difference between emotions and feelings?

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LESSON 2

REASON AND IMPARTIALITY AS MINIMUM

REQUIREMENTS FOR MORALITY
• Reason and Impartiality become the basic prerequisite
for morality as one is expected to be able to deliver
clear, concise, rightful, and appropriate judgments made
out of logic and understanding in an unbiased and
unprejudiced manner while considering the general
welfare to accurately concoct moral decisions.
• Moral truths are reason; that is, moral judgment is true if it is espoused by better
reasons than the alternatives.

• Genuine value judgements ought to be backed up by pertinent reasons.

• Moral judgments must posses the quality of partiality; personal feelings or

inclinations should be suppressed if necessary.

• Moral judgments must be backed by good reasons

• Morality requires the impartial consideration of each individual’s interest

REASON
-the power of the mind to think and understand in a logical way
- the right thing to do is what has the best reasons to support it.
IMPARTIALITY
-treating all people of groups equally, nor partial or biased
-everyone must be held to the same moral standards and rules, Just because we
like or dislike someone does not mean they are exemptions to the moral code.

The Requirements for Impartiality

• Each individual’s interest is equally important, and no one should get

special treatment.
• If there is no good reason for treating people differently, then
discrimination is unacceptably arbitrary.

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MORAL REASONING
- Applies critical analysis to specific events to determine what is right or wrong, and what
people ought to do in a particular situation. ... Indeed, the term moral dumbfounding
describes the fact that people often reach strong moral conclusions that they cannot
logically defend.

ETHICAL REASONING
-pertains to the right and wrongs of human conduct. Each person has standards that are
defined by their personal values which come into play when the person faces certain
dilemmas or decision.

ETHICAL REASONING HOLDS TWO ROLES IN LIFE

• Highlighting acts that enhance the well-being of other people
• Highlighting acts that harm the well-being of other people

Four Methods of Ethical Reasoning

1. Virtue:
Value and personal character
Its goal is to be a good person and have moral values
Example:
Courage – Faith --hope – Honesty

2. Utility:
The amount of good can be produced by decision
It compares between the benefit and cost of decision. It’s hard measuring the ethical
Utility like in employee morality – physically satisfaction – the worth of human life.

3. Rights:
That a person or a group is entitled to something or expect to be treated in a certain
way. Most important rights: - safety – free speech – freedom – being informed its
challenging to ORG balance the employees right because that may lead to
conflicts in rights. The right of a person must not cause any harm to the other and
their rights.

4. Justice
Distributing benefits and burdens equitably and according to an accepted rule.
Example: Salary must be fair according to the employee work.

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The role of reason according to Kant

• Use pf reasons to ground morality is that it provides a

response to the egoist.

• Use of reason to ground morality is that it explains

the scope of morality

7 Steps in the 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 not known but that
need to be determined. We must ask not only “what do we know?” in order to
generate an intelligent, ethical decision.
Determine fact. 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 came to light.
Never make a choice on the basis of hearsay. Make sure your sources are credible
and have integrity.

2. Second step is determining the ethical issues. The

moral issues should be correctly stated in terms of
competing interests. It is these conflicting interests 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 a
patient’s life, can be stated in terms of patient autonomy
(or someone’s right to make his/her decision about medical care) vs. the sanctity
of life (the duty to preserve life)
Stop and think. Before making any decisions, it is best to take a moment to think
about the situation itself, your place in it, and other surrounding factors which merit
consideration. This involves a step-back from the situation to make sure that you do
not act out of impulse.

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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
these principles, and in some cases, to decide whether
some principles are to be weighted more heavily than
others.

4. Forth step is listing the alternatives. This step involves coming up with the
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 the chance that your list will include some high-quality ones. Also, you may
come up with some very creative alternatives that you had not considered before.
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 actions. Clear your mind
and try to think of other creative ways of clarifying your motives and implementing your
actions with the least ethical compromise

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 is not forthcoming, then the next step in the model should be
considered. Some of the alternatives, at the least, may be rejected by this step of
comparison.
Clarify goals. It is also necessary to clarify your short-term and long –terms aim. 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

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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 is
in order. Both positive and negative
consequences are to be considered.
They should be informally weighted
since some positive consequences are
more beneficial than others, and some negative consequences are more
detrimental than others.

Consider consequences. Filter your choices and separate the ethical and unethical
choices bearing mind both your motives and the potential consequences of your
action. A decision turns something in your mind into reality. Make sure you do not
regret the decision you have conferred reality upon.

7. The last but not the least step is making a 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 moral 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.
Choose. Make a decision. If the choice is hard to make, try consulting others who
may have knowledge or experience of your situation.
Monitor and modify. Monitor what happens after your decision and have enough
humility to modify your action or behavior as necessary.

Moral courage is the result of a morally developed will. It is the capacity to initiate and
sustain your resolve whenever you are certain of doing the good. It is a kind of virtue that
enables one to be ethical not just in thought but, but more importantly, in deed.
Human beings as doers of moral acts are responsible not only for what they do but for
the persons they grow into through their moral acts. Human acts are relevant to the kind
of person one becomes

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POINTS OF DISCUSSION

Activity no 2: Situational Questions/ Scenarios.

What makes these questions dilemmas is an individual’s definition of right
and wrong or good and bad.

1. Some of your friends have started drinking alcohol, and they seem to be having
more fun than you. They’ve asked you to try it. What will you do?

2. It seems that just about everywhere you look — grocery stores, convenience
stores, TV, billboards — you see pictures of people wearing revealing clothes.
Some friends look at magazines and access Internet sites where they can see
even more. One friend has figured out how to get past parental blocks on these
sites and has offered to show you how. What will you do?

3. Suppose you have one test question left to answer and time is running out. You’ve
studied hard and you know the material, but you just can’t bring that answer to
mind. You could copy your neighbor’s answer without the teacher knowing.
Besides, you know the answer is somewhere in your brain, so it only seems fair
that you should get credit for it. What will you do?

4. You are on a plane containing 150 people, currently flying over barren desert.
Hijackers take over, killing the pilot and co-pilot, and sealing themselves in the
cockpit. There is no way for you to open the door, but you could damage the
ventilation system causing poisonous fumes to fill the cockpit. If you do this the
hijackers will die, but with no-one able to enter the cockpit and fly the plane, it will
crash in the desert killing everyone on board. If you do nothing, the hijackers might
land the plane safely, or they might crash it into a civilian target killing even more
people.

5. Your friend tells you that they committed a crime. They explain that they are having
trouble sleeping at night and feel you are the only one they can trust with their
confession. A few days later, you read in the paper that someone has been
arrested for your friend’s crime. Justify your answer on the choices given
below.
a. Go to the police and tell them what you know
b. Encourage your friend to confess and warn him if he does not do so, you will
tell?
c. Say nothing because you will not betray a friends’ confidence.

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LESSON 3

MORAL COURAGE

COURAGE
Is the ability to confront danger, fear, intimidation, pain, or uncertainty.

PHYSICAL COURAGE
Is the fortitude in the face of death (and its threat), hardship, or physical pain.

MORAL COURAGE
Is the ability to act rightly in the face of discouragement or opposition, possibly and
knowingly running the risk of adverse personal consequences.
MORAL COURAGE Springing from ethics—notably integrity, responsibility, compassion,
and forgiveness—moral courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to
withstand danger, difficulty, or fear; persevere; and venture. Comprehensively, it is a
willful, intentional act, executed after mindful deliberation, involving objective substantial
risk to the bearer, and primarily motivated to bring about a noble good or worthy end
despite, perhaps, the presence of the emotion of fear.
Operationally, moral courage entails:
1. Discerning what is right or wrong;
2. Acting on what one has discerned, even at a personal cost; and
3. Saying openly that one is acting on one's understanding of right and wrong.

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their
colleagues, and the wrath of heir society. Moral courage is a rarer community than bravery
in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to
change a world which yields most painfully to change—JOHN F. KENNEDY

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THREE ELEMENST OF MORAL COURAGE

The Importance of Moral Courage

1. Moral courage helps us address ethical issues and take action when doing the right
thing is not easy.
2. Moral courage involves the willingness to speak out and do what is right in the face of
forces that would lead us to act in some other way.
3. It is the testing point in our life which according to moral principles may require us to
put our comfort, possessions, relationships, and careers at risk.
4 Moral courage, helps our inner strength to do what’s right even when it costs more than
we want to pay.
5. Our life requires moral courage to make choices that may not be popular or
understood by others but that keep your integrity whole
6. Moral courage lets you stand strong against peer pressure.
7. Moral courage leads you to honesty even if you will suffer a consequence
8. Your life requires moral courage to make choices that may not be popular or
understood by others but that keep your integrity whole.

9. Morally courageous individuals act upon their ethical values to help others during
difficult ethical dilemmas, despite the adversity they may face in doing so.
10. When there is no doubt that important expectations are not being met, it is often
personally difficult to speak out. It involves of risk of adverse consequences to challenge
the acceptance by or the (willful) ignorance of others. It requires moral courage.

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Why the will is as important as the reason?

Generally, will is the faculty of the mind that selects, at the moment
of decision, a desire among the various desires present; it itself does
not refer to any particular desire, but rather to the mechanism
responsible for choosing from among one's desires.
Within philosophy, will is important as one of the parts of the mind,
along with reason and understanding. It is considered central to the
field of ethics because of its role in enabling deliberate action.

What is the definition of free will ethics?

• Free Will describes our capacity to make choices that are genuinely our own. With
free will comes moral responsibility – our ownership of our good and bad deeds.

That ownership indicates that if we make a choice that is good, we deserve the
resulting rewards. If in turn we make a choice that is bad, we probably deserve those
consequences as well. In the case of a really bad choice, such as committing murder,
we may have to accept severe punishment.

Within theology, for example, the claim that humans are ‘made in the image of God’
(a central tenet of major religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam) is not that they
are the physical image of their creator. Rather, the claim is made that humans are
made in the ‘moral image’ of God – which is to say that they are endowed with the
‘divine’ capacity to exercise free will.

Free will is not limited to those who hold a religious belief. Philosophers also argue
that it would be unjust to blame someone for a choice over which they have no control.

Determinism is the belief that all choices are determined by an unbroken chain of cause
and effect. Those who believe in ‘determinism’ oppose free will, arguing that that the belief
that we are the authors of our own actions is a delusion.

While scientific evidence has found that there is brain activity prior to the sensation of
having made a choice, is unable to the resolve the question of which account is correct.

Should that gap close – and free will be proven to be an illusion, then the basis for
ascribing guilt to those who act unethically (including criminals) will also be destroyed.

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The Good Will by KANT’s PHILOSOPHY

The will, Kant says, is the faculty of acting according to a

conception of law. When we act, whether or not we achieve
what we intend with our actions is often beyond our control,
so the morality of our actions does not depend upon their
outcome. What we can control, however, is the will behind
the action.
That is, we can will to act according to one law rather than
another. The morality of an action, therefore, must be
assessed in terms of the motivation behind it. If two people,
Smith and Jones, perform the same act, from the same
conception of the law, but events beyond Smith’s control
prevent her from achieving her goal, Smith is not less
praiseworthy for not succeeding. We must consider them on equal moral ground in terms
of the will behind their actions.

The only thing that is good without qualification is the good will, Kant says. All other
candidates for an intrinsic good have problems, Kant argues. Courage, health, and wealth
can all be used for ill purposes, Kant argues, and therefore cannot be intrinsically good.
Happiness is not intrinsically good because even being worthy of happiness, Kant says,
requires that one possess a good will.
The good will is the only unconditional good despite all encroachments. Misfortune may
render someone incapable of achieving her goals, for instance, but the goodness of her
will remains.

Developing of the will

To have a Good Will means to be motivated to do the right thing out of a sense of moral
duty. Doing the right thing adds meaning to our lives because it provides an inner sense
of having treated others humanely, not using them for our own desires, and respecting
them and allowing them the freedom to act as they will.

So, a person who lacks Good Will does not act out of moral duty but self-interest to a
greater degree. This makes it difficult to build close relationships, grow as an individual,
and self-actualize.

5 Tips in Developing Will and Moral Courage:

The following are some tips or suggestions on how to develop will and moral courage

1. Develop and practice self-discipline.

One way to develop moral courage and will is to develop and practice self-discipline. The concept
self-discipline involves the rejection of instant gratification in favor of something better. Ethically
applied, it may refer to the giving up of instant pleasure and satisfaction for a higher and better
goal such as executing a good rational moral decision.

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Developing will and moral courage involves developing self-control. It includes nurturing the ability
to stick to actions, thoughts, and behavior, which lead to moral improvement and success. It
encompasses endowing the inner strength to focus all the energy on a moral goal and persevere
until it is accomplished.

2. Do mental strength training.

This method is never reserved for a few special people. One of the most simple and
effective methods under this mental strength training involves declining to satisfy
unimportant and unnecessary desires.
Saying no to useless, harmful or unnecessary desires and deeds, and behaving contrary
to one’s (bad) habits, fortify and refine a person’s mindset. By persistent practice, one’s
inner power grows, in the same way working out one’s muscles at a gym increases one’s
physical strength. In both cases, when a person needs inner power or physical strength,
they are available at his/her disposal.
The following are some examples. Some of them are not necessarily ethically
related:

- Don’t open the internet for a day or two.

- Drink water or juice, in spite of your desire to have a beer or liquor.
- Avoid chatting with your gossipy friend.
- For a week, go to sleep one hour earlier than usual.
- Resist the desire to gamble.

3. Draw inspiration from people of great courage.

People usually admire and respect courageous persons who have won great success by
manifesting self-discipline and will power. These include people in all walks of life, who
with sheer will power and moral courage, overcame difficulties and hardships, have
improved their moral life, advanced on the spiritual or moral path, and became worthy of
imitation.

4. Repeatedly do acts that exhibit moral courage and will.

Practice makes perfect. If one wishes to nurture the moral courage and will in him, he
must strive doing the acts that manifest them whenever opportunity allows it.

5. Avoid deeds that show lack of moral courage and will.

This involves evading acts that show irresponsibility, cowardice, apathy, rashness,
imprudence, ill will, and wickedness

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Activity no 3: answer the following questions

1. Can you think of a situation where you wanted to do the right thing, but found yourself
unable to do it? What prevented you from acting according to your values?

2. Can you think of a situation where it was difficult to do the right thing, but you managed
to do it? What factors were present that enabled you to live up to your values?

3. Is it ever OK to lie? If so, under what circumstances?

Situational test: How are you going to response to the following scenario?
4. The Life Boat
You are on a cruise and the ship encounters an unexpected storm. The storm continues
to rage and eventually you and the other passengers are told you must head to the
lifeboats and abandon ship. As people begin to line up, you realize some lines have fewer
people, some have families, and some seem to have younger, single people. You know
you are strong and capable. Do you choose to help a group composed of three families
with a few young children, a group of seniors who obviously could use your help, or go
with the young, strong people, with whom you might have a better chance of survival?
Answer:

5. When making a purchase at a local store, you are given too much change. Do you say
something or keep quiet?
Answer

ETHICS 2ND QUARTER | D. Revillas