The Reason and

Emotion Behind
Ethical Issues

Real-Life Situation
Zoe Gilliard:
Became pregnant when she was 17,
and her boyfriend had just gone off to
university. She was in the middle of
her A-levels, having the child would
harm her education and later on her
social life. She aborted the child.

Knowledge Question
To what extent is our
judgment on ethical
issues based on reason
and/or emotion?

Reason

Reason is something we use whenever we make a

decision, and most of the time, our reasoning occurs
instinctively, as we decide on the best path to take
almost unconsciously, depending on previous
experiences involving similar situations. It is
possible to train ourselves to reason consciously,
though, and the more one thinks about the
decisions one is making, the more one is able to
have active control over them. Some people have
termed this intellectual enlightenment, the point
where we are consciously aware of every choice we
ever make. The extent to which this is achieved
determines how rational we are.

Emotion
Emotion is a psychological experience that
everyone encounters and can be seen or
expressed through certain behavior. It can
affect our mood, reasoning, and behavior.
A distinctive feeling as distinguished from
reasoning or knowledge.

Claim
Through reason, Zoe Gilliard decided to
abort the baby This can fall under reason
because reason is something that we use
whenever we make a decision, Zoe
deciding to abort the baby in her mind
wouldve been the best option as she was
still young and keeping the baby couldve
jeopardized her education and social life.
Overall, she wasnt fit to be a mother.
Therefore, it may be considered less
ethical as the unborn fetus wasnt fully
developed yet.

Counter-Claim
However, emotion can also affect the judgment
on an ethical issue. For example, an unnamed
25 year old girl was raped by an Islamic Teacher.
As a Muslim girl, the act of fornication before
marriage is considered a serious offense in
Islam. Since the girl was constantly raped over a
5 year period, she started to develop
psychological issues and become traumatized.
Through her psychological trauma the girl
aborted the baby as she couldnt emotionally
handle seeing the child of her rapist everyday
(even though it is considered a sin in Islam).

Counter-Claim
It is evident that in the second RLS the girl
decides to abort the baby after it has
already become a fetus (8 weeks). In this
situation, emotion is used to determine
whether her actions would be considered
ethical or unethical. Some may say that
her situation is unethical because she
murdered an innocent child as the fetus
was already developed. Even though she
couldnt handle looking at her rapists baby,
she shouldnt have delayed her abortion
and then take a life after it had developed.

Death Penalty (Claim)

Scott Peterson was put on death row, after he murdered his
wife Laci Peterson and the fetus of their first unborn child
(which was washed ashore on San Francisco bay) in 2002. Laci
was then found headless, armless, and legless washed ashore
in the same area. Scott Peterson was sent to prison and later
put on death row. Jude Alfred A. Dellucchi sentenced Scott
Peterson to death by lethal injection and called the murder of
Laci cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous.
Peterson being put on death row can be supported through
reason. Especially since he broke the law. Peterson was charged
with 2 accounts of murder, 2 accounts of manslaughter.
Meaning he broke 4 of the United States laws.
Since reason is used whenever making a decision. Judge Alfred
decided to send him on death row based on the facts that he
broke the law, using reason it is Justified that Scott Peterson
did deserve the Death Penalty.

Counter-Claim
However it can be argued that the Death Penalty isnt ethical
and this can be seen in Cameron Todd Willinghams situation.
Cameron Todd Willingham a 38 year old American male
was convicted for the murder of his 3 young children
by arson. He was then sentenced to Death Penalty and
executed in 2004. The authorities said that they
assumed that Cameron had killed on of the children
through gunshot and then set fire to their home in
Texas to conceal the murder. However, after he was
executed it was released to the press that their were
no gunshot wounds found on any of the children and
their cause of death was merely due to suffocation
from the Fire. Cameron maintained his innocence and
was traumatized from his childrens death

Counter-Claim (cont.)
In this situation, we can clearly see that
charging him for the murder of his children
and putting him on death row was the wrong
decision. Not only was he an innocent man, but
also he had a family who believed he was
innocent. The Death Penalty in this case is
perceived as unethical as you are taking away
the life of an innocent man, which defies
morals and is considered an inhumane act. In
reality, they are actually taking away the life of
an innocent man and this could be considered
as murdering someone as well. His loved ones
had lost him even though he was innocent.

Conclusion
To what extent is our judgment on ethical issues

based on reason and/or emotion?

In conclusion, an individuals judgment on ethical
issues can vary depending on both reason and/or
emotion. As seen in my real life situation, Reason can
affect an individuals judgment on the issue (Zoe
Gilliard). However, as seen in my other RLS Emotion
also has an impact on ethical issues such as the
Death Penalty. Overall, depending on the specific
situation our judgment on ethical/unethical issues is
heavily dependent on the reason and emotion behind
the situation.