Thinkers, Feelers, and Emotions

[wolfy]

Say you see someone being cruel to a puppy, it evokes anger or outrage, right? Wouldn't this be your mind going directly to a value that pertains to "protect the weak and defenseless", hence creates the anger and outrage? Kind of chicken or egg.

Yeah, sure. It is the idea it is wrong and then the anger. And then sometimes it is about looking at how you feel or looking at values abstractly. Depends on the time frame from impulse to action.

 

[William K]

Say you see someone being cruel to a puppy, it evokes anger or outrage, right? Wouldn't this be your mind going directly to a value that pertains to "protect the weak and defenseless", hence creates the anger and outrage? Kind of chicken or egg.

To me, the subjective evaluation part of your scenario is not in the reaction to the cruelty, but in the definition of cruelty itself. Physical abuse would be cruel for example, but what about mental abuse? Is offering the puppy some food and then taking the food away teasingly considered cruel? Is playing catch with a puppy on a hot day until it is exhausted cruel? Which is cruel : Tying up or keeping a puppy in an enclosure, vs letting a puppy run free when there might be cars around?
It's questions like these where you need to make value judgments.