Caitlin Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 (edited) Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions? Just thought I'd make a thread for this topic and see if anyone else is doing it. I'm finishing up my TOK essay today, but I'd be interested to see how other people have handled this one. Edited October 21, 2007 by HMSChocolate Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandev Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 This unlike any of the other topics that have a thread is one of the ones that my school has allowed us to do, but I deicided not to do it . A couple of my friends did it but I have no idea how they approached it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest croixvee Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 There are certain topics/issues that can be addressed with this question including euthanasia, death sentences, abortion, traditional views v modern views (with today being more rationalist), etc. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
salivattack Posted September 16, 2007 Report Share Posted September 16, 2007 I handle this question by weighing the way of knowing – reason – by using the principle of utilitarianism; for example whether to turn a friend in who has done wrong, by mentioning the amount of utility. Then I bring in the emotional justifications that possibly are needed; for example, feelings for a friend will cloud reasoning. Emotion may not be reliable or morally sound because of ingrained values due to upbringing of societal culture, having been influenced to feel that certain things are right without the need for justification using reason. Thus, using the way of knowing, emotion, can be unreliable when following societal ways that may or may not be right. Other examples of moral decisions are whether to reveal someone’s faults and whether is it right to challenge authority; in certain culture, the decision would be to stay conformist. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mnb1989 Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Are reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions?Just thought I'd make a thread for this topic and see if anyone else is doing it. I'm finishing up my TOK essay today, but I'd be interested to see how other people have handled this one. well i also decided to choose this topic, and basically im a bit confused about what to write and my TOK teacher didnt offer me any help at all (in fact he started telling me off!)... i was hoping if u have any pointers on how i can approch this topic thanks for your help Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandev Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 My TOK teacher was angry at the only person in my class who chose this topic as he didn't like it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dooga Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 Careful, you guys may be breaking the Academic Honesty rules. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Lc~ Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Careful, you guys may be breaking the Academic Honesty rules. care to elaborate what you mean by that? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruan Chun Xian Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I think he was talking about this: i was hoping if u have any pointers on how i can approch this topic I think we are allowed to discuss the topic, Dooga. It's just you have to write the essay for yourself. I mean, look at it, the topics are spanned across 2 exams sessions, available for about a year before you have to hand in the essay...it would be impossible to never discuss with other people. mnb1989: As for pointers, have you read this? I handle this question by weighing the way of knowing – reason – by usingthe principle of utilitarianism; for example whether to turn a friend in who has done wrong, by mentioning the amount of utility. Then I bring in the emotional justifications that possibly are needed; for example, feelings for a friend will cloud reasoning. Emotion may not be reliable or morally sound because of ingrained values due to upbringing of societal culture, having been influenced to feel that certain things are right without the need for justification using reason. Thus, using the way of knowing, emotion, can be unreliable when following societal ways that may or may not be right. Other examples of moral decisions are whether to reveal someone’s faults and whether is it right to challenge authority; in certain culture, the decision would be to stay conformist. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.barghuthi Posted October 19, 2007 Report Share Posted October 19, 2007 After discussing all the topics with my teacher here is what we came up withYou need analyse if reason and emotion necessary in justifying moral decisionsand you need to analyse if they are equally necessaryI believe that it is necessary because we need to make an equal balance to do the right decision. you cant decide based on emotions and this is what we actually do..we base everything on emotions that we are blionded from facts..you help a man limping to cross the street and you forget the possibility that he is astranger or that he sould be a possible threat..sympathy takes over while a man walikng down the street and he smile..u go why is he smiling is he nice ..and the u automatically go i should be careful he may be a stalker..because he is a stranger.I hopw this help in understanding the question Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ashwin_547 Posted October 20, 2007 Report Share Posted October 20, 2007 hey guys could any of you help me asnswer this question and maybe add in a couple examples, that would be great...thanks a lot and cheers guysAre reason and emotion equally necessary in justifying moral decisions?like i want to say that they arent, and i really have no decent examples to back it up and my intros really weak, maybe someone can help me with one?thankscheers Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceisland Posted October 20, 2007 Report Share Posted October 20, 2007 It's Saturday, I slept until 1:00 p.m and I'm not really in swift thinking mode, but I'd say that although they are both important, reason is undoubtedly paramount. Exactly what kind of moral decisions are you talking about?If you go to an extreme example, you hate your mother in law. She's interfering with your life, and ruining your marriage. You want to kill her, though despite your rage and the emotional distress that she causes you, you (or most), would reason that murder is not worth it.That might have been nothing more than a taste of somebody in "I'm not going to even think about academics until sunday night..." mode, but I hope it helped. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Yes they are. By using only reason, it neglects the emotion and social aspect, and it is just one part of the story. But also, trusting only on emotion is also very unreliable because they control the conclusions and disclosing. You should think about the connections between reason and emotion and u should find some examples where you can use both reason and emotion, also u could explain their advantages and disadvantages good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
icecoldstar Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 of course reason is definitely necessary, however, emotions are sometimes crucial, and soemtimes can be a obstacle. for example, at a library, one can use the computer for as long as they want. if you use reason, that is logical becasue it follows the rulesif you use emotion, you would be like, what the **** is that bastard doing on computer for 6 hours straight?? get him off because i need it...thats just one of my idea... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crammarc Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 the question states that you must JUSTIFY A MORAL decision. some of you have used amoral or not even an example that involves morality. make sure you read the question. In addition, make sure you state in your introduction that your justification is the decision you make before acting or the justification you make following the event (your explination) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBiswatching Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) I'm fairly sure I'll be writing on this title as well... I should probably decide since my essay is due in less than a month now =X *headdesk*the question states that you must JUSTIFY A MORAL decision. some of you have used amoral or not even an example that involves morality. make sure you read the question. In addition, make sure you state in your introduction that your justification is the decision you make before acting or the justification you make following the event (your explination)Yes, I was going to point that out too - the question asks about justifying a moral decision. In my mind that means you probably need to examine how a decision can be justified morally as well. What does 'justify' exactly mean -- is it justified if you can justify the decision to yourself or do you have to justify it to others? What do you base your arguments on, your personal morals or higher/societal beliefs? How do reason and emotion work with each other in this context? Against each other? Not sure about the validity of these ideas -- this is basically what we spent one TOK class throwing around since about half of the IB2s at my school are writing on this topic.Another suggestion - our TOK teachers have strongly emphasized that examples you use in the essay should be personal, as in try to avoid going into those large societal problems for examples unless you have personal experience there. Edited November 12, 2007 by BBiswatching Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowday Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 One of my friends did this question. He chose to focus on deontological vs utilitarian to represent emotion vs reason, weighed whether making a decision should be based on the action being immediately wrong or right, or if it should be based on the final result of the immediate action. It was a pretty interesting paper, though I read it a while ago so the details are foggy. I actually think that the the most difficult part of this question is trying to define "equal", since we are not exactly talking about whether 2+2 = 4. There are a lot of qualifying statements that can be made about the term "equal", but pinning down a concrete definition of what would be considered "equal" and then applying it to the question seems to be the hardest part in my opinion. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mr_whatsisname Posted December 7, 2007 Report Share Posted December 7, 2007 umm...i used a more simple approach...i used a euthanasia example in the beginning and then evaluated the strength of reason in various fields...and then the strength of emotion... and then i just stated my own opinion...lol...that simple...but i am still going for the 3 bonus points.. (i neeeeeeeeed them ) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashika Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 I think one thing that everyone is overlooking is what does it mean to justify a moral decision? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Caity Posted December 9, 2007 Report Share Posted December 9, 2007 Doesnt emotion effect our reasoning?Im also doing the same question, and if im honest, procrastinating though it is due tomorrow. xxx Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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