If we were to ask the protagonist in the train platform scenario from Chapter 2 to explain what he was thinking about when he stepped in front of the gunman, it is unlikely that he would have provided an articulated, thorough-going analysis of the practical and moral aspects of the situation. He would probably have said something along the lines of: “I didn't really have time to think about it. I simply reacted. It felt right. I think anybody else would have done the same thing.” While the drama and seriousness of that particular scenario is not an everyday occurrence, the act of unreflectively doing something because it “feels right” is fairly commonplace. Such simple acts of kindness as giving a homeless person some spare change, giving a stranger directions, or helping someone up who has fallen on an icy pavement don't generally involve careful reflection and analysis. Instead, they seem to involve a feeling, perhaps of sympathy, empathy, care, or an unidentifiable sense of the “right thing to do,” and a corresponding action that seems to flow automatically.

The commonality of these latter experiences in the everyday lives of people raises some interesting questions about the role of cognition and rationality in everyday morality, and the role of habit and moral feelings. To understand these relationships in the moral domain, we need to begin with a more general examination of the role of affect and emotion in relation to cognition.

the relation between thought and emotion

Only intelligent living systems have feelings. Artificial systems of intelligence, such as computers, do not.