Republic of the Philippines

SOUTHERN LEYTE STATE UNIVERSITY

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Institute of Arts and Sciences

SELF – PACED LEARNING PLAN
ETHICS
TITLE OF CONTENT OF THE LESSON/SHORT SELF-LEARNING ANSWERS TO GUIDE
OBJECTIVES GUIDE QUESTIONS
TOPIC READINGS/EXPLANATION ACTIVITIES QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 2 1. Differentiate Hume and the Philosophy of Mind 1. In what way are 1. Students will be divided 1. According to Hume
Lesson 1: responses based  Put himself in opposition to ancient feelings important into 5 groups. As a and Scheler, feelings are
Feelings in on reason and and modern philosophers with his in moral decision- group, they will come up important in moral
Relation to those based on take on emotions making according with a scenario where a decision-making for it
Moral feelings.  Put forth his 4 theses stating that to Hume and person based on his or serves as signal for us
emotions are just as significant to Scheler? her decisions on to adjust our behavior.
Dilemmas
2. Capture and reason: feelings. They will act It can also help us learn
analyze their  Reason alone cannot be a motive to 2. In what way is a out what they deduce from our mistakes. And
feelings in their the will, but rather is the “slave of the feeling detrimental could happen when a emotional responses
moral experiences. passions”. in moral decision- person based on his or can be reshaped as time
1. Moral Distinctions are not making? her decisions on feelings pass by.
derived from reason. alone.
2. Moral distinctions are derived 2. There are many
from the morals sentiments: possible ways that our
feelings of approval (esteem, feelings becomes
praise) and disapproval (blame) detrimental in our
felt by spectators who moral decision-making.
contemplate a character trait or But one thing is for
action. sure, a human feeling or
3. While some virtues and vices are emotion can giv the
natural, others are (including person second thoughts
and what if's. Those
 Justice) are artificial. doubts will cause the
4. For Hume, “Passions” (which he weakening of his stand
used to refer to emotions and on his morality. And
feelings) are categorized into two: those feelings might
Direct and Indirect. cause him to do the
Scheler and the Philosophy of Feelings exact opposite decisions
 Max Ferdinand Scheler was a German from what he might
Ethical Philosopher distinguished for actually must do.
his contribution in phenomenology,
ethics, and philosophical
Anthropology (Davis and Steinbach,
2016).
 For him, emotions are the most
important aspect of human existence
(Dy, 1986). Scheler asserted that
emotions/feelings are, inherent,
objective, and it exists even if you
have not experience it before (a
priori). He rejected the idea that
feelings re 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 exacts 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 Feeilngs
Difference Between Responses based on
Reason and on Feelings
 On the opposite side of the discussion
about the role of feelings in making
moral decision are those who argued
on the use of reason over feelings.
Philosopher and Professor Dr. James
Rachels asserted that moral
reasoning, you could not rely on your
feeling no matter how powerful these
feelings may be. Feelings can be
irrational and merely a product of
your prejudice, selfishness, or
cultural conditioning. The Morally
right thing to do is one that is
supported by rational argument if:
a. The facts are correct.
b. The moral principles are
correctly applied.
c. Each individual’s well
being is treated equally
important.
What is the role of feelings in Decision-
Making
• Reason plays a role in making a
moral decision. Philosophers
encourage the use of reason in
making moral decisions.
However, it should be noted be
noted too that our moral
compasses are also powerfully
influenced by feelings.
• On several instances, reasoning
in moral decisions is preceded by
an initial intuition or gut-feeling.
 20th century Philosopher Alfred
Jules Ayer described two
elements in moral judgement:
a. “emotive” – expresses
positive feeling towards a
particular act.
b. “prescriptive” – is an
instruction or
prescription of a
particular behavior.
Why feeling can be obstacles to making
the right decisions
• There are three central features
as to why emotions can be
obstacles in making the right
decisions:
1. Its non-deliberate nature
2. Its partial nature
3. It is capricious
The Non-deliberate Nature Of Feelings
• Deliberate means the act was
intentional, planned, with
conscious effort, while non-
deliberate is the contrary term
that denotes spontaneous
actions.
• Philosopher Aaron Zeev
summarized the non-deliberate
nature of feelings as follows:
1. Responsibility entails free choice;
if we are not free to behave in a
certain manner, then e are not
responsible for this behavior.
2. Free choice entails an intellectual
 deliberation in which alternatives
are considered and the best one
is chose. Whithout such
consideration, we clearly cannot
understand the possible
alternatives and are not
responsible for preferring onr of
them.
3. Since intellectual deliberation is
absent from emotions, we cannot
be responsible for our emotions.
The Partial Nature of Feelings
• Emotions notoriously play
favourites.
• There are two aspects in the
partial nature of emotions:
1. Decisions based on feelings focus
on a narrow area
2. It reflects personal and self-
interest perspective
The Capricious Nature of Feelings
• The problem with emotions is
that it rises up for arbitrary
reason. For example you did not
give money to and old beggar
asking for alms simply because
she tugged at your shirt and
startled you. Aspects or
situations could rile up your
emotion, and situations that have
nothing to do in moral situations
could rile up your emotion, and
this will certainly influence your
subsequent moral judgement
 (Pizarro, 2000).
How Emotions Help in Making the Right
Decisions
• There are three ways in which
feelings, especially negative ones,
help in making the right
decisions:
1. It signals the need to to
adjust behavior
2. It can help us learn from
our mistakes
3. Emotional responses can
be reshaped as time pass
by
• Psychologist have long
acknowledged that emotions
serve as red flags. Emotions
signal that something is
happening and that it needs our
attention (Arnold, 1960).
Studies have shown, that negative
emotions are integral to our ability to
learn. The surge of negative emotions
trigger “counterfactual thinking”.
Counterfactual Thinking is a
psychological concept about the human
tendency to create possible alternative
scenarios other that what had actually
happened.

Prepared by: Noted: Approved:

ROSELO L. CADULDULAN JR. ELVIE D. DURAN, Ed, D DR. FRANCIS ANN R. SY
Name & Signature of Faculty/Staff Director, Institute of Arts and Sciences Concerned VP/Campus Director