Preview to "The Mental Lawyer: How Emotions Shape the Moral Mind"

Some questions up for discussion:

1) Which do you think is more important to have when making moral decisions; reason or emotion?

2) How do you define a morality? Do you prefer the normative or descriptive definition of morality?

3) How do you define a moral decision? How should one justify a moral decision?

4) Do you view the difference between an impersonal moral decision and a personal moral decision as being a valid justification for a moral choice?

5) Do you agree or disagree with Dan Ariely's belief that we all have a personal "fudge factor" when it comes to our moral code? Why or why not?

6) How important is it to be sympathetic to others when making moral decisions? Explain.

Comment below to respond!

Dan Ariely's TED Talk, "Our Buggy Moral Code"

More Sources

"What Is Ethics?"- http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html

"Leadership Decision Making"- http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/opre640/partxiii.htm#rEthics

"Thinking Ethically: A Framework for Moral Decision Making"- http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v7n1/thinking.html

"The Definition of Morality"- http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/morality-definition/

"What Makes Us Moral"-http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1685055_1685076_1686619,00.html

The 5 Approaches to Morality

"What to add to your grocery list, which route is the quickest to take on the car ride to the grocery store, which brand of milk is the tastiest yet lowest price to buy, what to prepare for dinner. Our lives are full of such commonplace decisions. They are constant throughout our daily routines. These humdrum choices require mainly rational thought in order to be chosen; which solution logically provides the best outcome in the given situation? But what about decisions such as whether or not to turn in a wallet full of cash you found on the sidewalk, cheat on your significant other, rob a bank, or even abort your unborn child? These decisions can be constituted as a different type of decision: a moral decision. Moral decisions occur less frequently than our easy, everyday choices, which primarily call for rational reasoning. Moral decisions require more from us to be chosen since they involve choosing right from wrong. Therefore, the moral decision-making process, despite conflicting arguments, is dictated primarily by emotion instead of reason." Read more...