2. How do I know I am doing right?
1. Have a pure intention
2. Consult the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament, the Prophets,
Moses and Paul
3. Ask question: “How does this action of mine measure up to the
yardstick of love?
4. Consult the people of God wherein Christ and his Spirit reside.
5. Follow the current debate on the moral issues.
6. Pray for God’s graceful guidance in all your actions.
7. Be sorrowful for your sinfulness.
8. Follow “your” conscience.
3. Guilt?
Guilt is a form of emotional distress
which results from one’s belief of having
violated an ethical principle or social
standard.
Guilt is the principle motivational factor
in a mature conscience.
Guilt is a constructive emotion because a
guilt-laden individual takes
responsibility for his own actions rather
than blaming others.
4. One basic experience found in all human life
is that of guilt.
This basic feeling can take many
forms:
▪ Remorse for actions done
previously
▪ A shame directed toward other
people
▪ Fear of rejection by others
▪ Self-condemnation
▪ Depression . . .ect . . .
6. ➢This type of shame leads to a deeper reluctance to assert
oneself, to be oneself, and results in a personal
withdrawal from life.
➢Life will be controlled by fate and by other people since I
am ashamed to be myself and to assert myself.
2. A Feeling of Shame for a Particular Inner Feeling
▪ Our reaction to an embarrassing feeling in us.
▪ In this situation we sense a feeling developing in us
which our culture finds laughable or unacceptable.
▪ We struggle to hide this feeling since we are afraid
what others might think of us if they knew.
▪ There is a combination of many feelings:
❖An uncomfortableness with oneself
❖Fear of rejection by others
❖Sense of pressure from outside
7. ❑Examples:
▪ I am ashamed of my tears
▪ I am ashamed that I feel angry toward my
parents
▪ I am ashamed of my homosexual
tendencies
▪ I am ashamed that I am afraid of so many
things
• This feeling of shame leads to a hiding of those
feelings that are socially unacceptable, a type
of secretiveness.
• I do not reveal to others the presence of these
feelings and I may even refuse to admit their
presence to myself.
• I may try to suppress their presence.
8. 3. Shame for what Others Might Be Thinking
▪ Arises out of a heightened sensitivity to the presence of other people.
❑Examples:
▪ I feel ashamed because my shirt is dirty.
▪ I felt ashamed in the class when I said something foolish.
▪ I am ashamed that everyone knows that I failed the midterm exam.
• In the previous types of guilt we considered the feeling of shame that we might feel
for what others might discover about me/you, a type of shame that is connected
with fear of discovery.
• In this type of shame we consider situation where there is shame in an actual
encounter with others where we feel ourselves judged and condemned.
9. #4-5 FEAR
GUILT
4.A Fear of Rejection by Parents and Family
▪ To be guilty often means that we feel afraid, afraid
of not being loved and accepted, afraid of being
rejected.
Examples:
• I fear that my parents will find out that I fail in my
subject.
• It would be horrible if my family heard that I failed that
course.
• I feel bad that my parents do not approve of the friends
I spend time with.
• I feel bad that my ideas disagree with those of my
parents.
❑ This type of guilt is not based on a sense of a law
commanding that certain action should be done or not.
10. 5. A Fear of Rejection by Society
❑ This type of guilt leads us to a life of fear
where are constantly concerned about what
others will think.
❑ It also leads to a life of conformity where
public opinion controls our choices and there is
no room for asserting ourselves.
Examples:
▪ I am afraid that people will find out that
I had an abortion.
▪ I feel uncomfortable when I am dirty.
▪ I fear that people will criticize me.
▪ I feel ashamed when I am wearing clothes
that are different from others
11. #6-14- Fear from a Fault
6. A Feeling of Guilt for a Mistake
❑ This type of guilt leads toward a type of
life which is more perfect, free of
mistakes.
❑ We are impelled by this feeling of guilt to
correct our ways of doing things and to
strive to do better in the future.
Examples:
▪ I feel bad for missing an easy shot in a
basketball game.
▪ I feel stupid for calling a classmate by the
wrong name.
▪ I feel mad at myself for having burned the
rice when I was cooking.
12. 7. A Sense of Self-Rejection
❑This type of guilt leads to a life where we
are constantly trying to eliminate all
imperfection from our personalities.
❑Since this task is ultimately impossible the
end result of such guilt will be depression
and unhappiness.
Examples:
▪ I feel bad that I make so many mistakes.
▪ i hate it that I often say silly things.
▪ I feel bad because I lack talent.
13. 8. A Sense of Uncomfortableness with
One’s “Shadow”
❑ This guilt would lead me to a way of life
where I am cautious, always careful about
self-control.
❑ It would also lead me to an attitude of fear,
where I am afraid of myself, afraid of any
new impulse that might arise within me.
Examples:
▪ I am disturbed by the angry feelings that I
sometimes have toward my parents.
▪ I am ashamed of the sexual desires that arise in
me.
▪ I feel bad that I cannot fully control the
impulses and the fears within me.
14. 9.A Sense of Remorse for Having Betrayed a
Personal Moral Rule
❑This type of guilt experience arises when
we feel bad for having violated a moral
rule which was important to us.
❑When he/she goes against such code there
is judgment within him/herself that he is
guilty and a resulting feeling of remorse.
Examples:
▪ I feel guilty for betraying my friend when
loyalty is so important to me.
▪ I feel bad for having shop-lifted. Honesty is
important to me.
▪ I want to be a good daughter/son and I feel
bad when I know that I am not.
15. 10. A Sense of Remorse for Violating a Human
Relationship
❑ This type of guilt arises from one’s involvement in
a human relationship with another person.
❑ As human beings we are moved by this sense of
guilt toward a possible reconciliation and toward
an improvement in the relationship. The guilt
guides us toward a fuller life.
Examples:
▪ I feel bad because I promised to help her but I did
not.
▪ I feel guilty that I did not spend time with my friend
when her mother died.
▪ I feel bad for not having been courageous enough to
be a true friend.
16. 11. A Sense of Self-Condemnation for Failure in
One’s Responsibility to Others.
❑ As human beings we share life in a world
together with others.
❑ The sense of guilt that is experienced because
of this sense of responsibility for others can
lead in different directions.
❑ This guilt can also lead to frustration, pain and
depression since there are so many needs in
the world which cannot be alleviated.
Examples:
▪ I feel bad that there are many sick and needy
people in the world that I am not helping.
▪ I feel bad that I have done nothing to combat the
injustices in my community/country.
17. 12. A Sense of Remorse for Having
Betrayed One’s Own Self
❑ One experience of moral obligation that
contemporary thought emphasizes is the
obligation to oneself.
❑ When we have failed to respond to such an
obligation there can be a s sense of self-
betrayal, a guilt toward oneself.
Examples:
▪ I feel guilty for having been lazy and not doing
my best last semester in school. I wasted
opportunity.
▪ Influenced by my barkada I did things which
were against my principles. I feel bad about
that.
▪ I feel guilty for allowing my friends to decide
what major I should take in college.
18. 13.A Sense of Self-Condemnation for Being
Involved in the Fault of a Large Group
❑ “corporate guilt” (Family, country, social group, and
businesses)
❑ What is distinctive in this sense of guilt is the type of
responsibility that is found here.
❑ In the case of corporate guilt “I am only indirectly
responsible because it is my group that has done
something immoral”. Somehow I am responsible for it
since my group is me and my support helps the group to
continue.
Examples:
▪ I feel bad because my father support our family from
immoral business dealings.
▪ I feel bad because the company I work for is guilty of
polluting the environment.
▪ I feel bad because my barkada sometimes does things
which are cruel and immoral.
19. 14. A Sense of Remorse for Having Ignored
God and His Will for my Life.
❑Religion can be present in my moral life.
❑There can be experience that my moral
obligations are coming from God and my
moral faults represent a rejection of His
place in my life.
Examples:
▪ I sense that I have gone against God when I
have broken His Laws
▪ I feel that when I neglect to go forward
with my life I am saying no to God.
▪ When I am mean toward other people I feel
that I am rejecting God’s invitation to love.
20. Questions
1.In which categories do you
find most of your guilt?
2.Is your experience of guilt
changing as you get older?
3.Is the experience of guilt a
good thing?
