LESSON 3 ON ETHICS:The Three Levels of Moral Dilemma By: Ruben A. Corpuz and Brenda B.

Corpuz –
Ethics Learning Outcome

1. Distinguish the levels of moral dilemma

2. Identify the different structural dilemmas

3. Explain the techniques used in resolving moral dilemmas Introduction This topic reinforces our
understanding of moral dilemmas previously discussed.

Situations we experienced everyday can be a reason that we will be confronted with moral dilemmas
which forces us to make a decision. Our discussion on this topic will focus on the three levels of moral
dilemmas, the Individual, Organizational and Structural Dilemmas. We will start our lesson with an
activity.

Activity 1: Read the following dilemmas:

1. The mission of a Grace Catholic School is to serve the poor by giving quality education. It is torn
between the obligation to charge low tuition fee to help the poor and to pay better salaries to keep
quality teachers.

2. Heinz’s wife is dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctor said a new drug might save her. The drug
had been discovered by a local chemist, and Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist was
charging ten times the money it cost to make the drug, and this was much more than Heinz could afford.
Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help from family and friends. He explained to the
chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money
later. The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to make money from it.
The husband was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he broke into the chemist’s laboratory
and stole the drug.

3. The principal ought to welcome and encourage parents and community participation in school affairs.
Based on her experience, parents and community are passive and so the principal always ends up
deciding and doing things just the same. She is obliged to observe parents’ and community participation
which do not give any input at all at the same time she is obliged to accomplish things on time.

Answer the following questions:

1. Among the three dilemmas, which do you think or feel is an example of individual dilemma?,
organizational dilemma?, structural dilemma?

2. How do the three dilemmas differ? Discuss your answer.

The Three Levels of Dilemma

1. Individual- conflict arrives when a person is asked to choose between two important values for him or
her for example, choosing between one’s duties to his or her family and one’s love for another person.
This refers also to personal dilemmas. It is an individual’s damn-if-you-do and damn-if-you-don’t
situation. The second case in the readings is one of the best known individual dilemma presented by
Kohlberg (1958) Kohlberg’S dilemma question were as follows: “Should Heinz have stolen the drug?” If
he did not steal the drug that would mean his wife’s death, He was torn between stealing the drug and
saving his wife. The dilemma is faced by an individual who is torn between two obligation – to save the
wife or obey the law.

2. Organizational- encountered by institutions, business, or organizations in their decision-making

process, at this level the dilemmas that the organizations’ experiences usually affect more than one
person and they can be part of the internal group or part of an external stakeholder. Organizational
dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual necessities of a social organization and members’ self- interest. It
may exist between personal interests and organizational welfare or between group interest and
organizational well-being.

The example number 1 in the readings shows the dilemma between the goal of the school to give
quality education for the poor and so must charge the lowest tuition fee possible and yet to keep quality
faculty the school must raise their salary and consequently, must raise tuition. Organizational dilemmas
may also in business, medical and public sector

3. Structural- affect a network of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms like universal care,
juvenile laws, and immigration. This type of dilemma can affect a community and even a society at large.
https://www.quora.com/ The case of the principal whether to be participatory or non-participatory in
school affairs nut due to her not so Favorite experience of attempting to be participatory ended up to
one-woman rule is an example of structural dilemma.

Kinds of Structural Dilemma

1. Differentiation versus Integration. This happens because different divisions have their own
different culture and so coordination between divisions or bringing them together for become
more difficult. With decentralization, local government have become more empowered to direct
their affairs just as schools have become empowered to addressed their problems or are given
opportunity to localize the given curriculum. In effect, local government and school have likewise
become ore differentiated and so it become more difficult to integrate them for a unified
structure. Local government and school curricula have become more complex. There is need for
more costly coordination strategies. Any attempt to introduce reform in society or government
create structural dilemma. For instance, promoting or introducing universal health care, which is
tantamount to socialized health care, gives rise to a structural dilemma, that is, a conflict of
perspective of sectors, groups and institution that may be affected by the decision. “Why would
those who contribute less to the social fund enjoy the same benefits as those who contributed
big amounts of premiums? In the study on the prices of medicines in the Philippines, it was
established that “patients are buying medicines from the private sector at many times the
international reference price” (Ateneo de Manila University 2019). If the government intervenes
by introducing price control, the drug store may lose so much that they may close shop. If the
government does not do anything at all, the patients will continue to suffer because they may
not be able to afford the high prices of medicines.
2. 2. Gap versus Overlap
There may be gaps and overlaps in roles and responsibilities. If key responsibilities are not
clearly assigned, there may be gaps or overlaps in important tasks. If there are gaps, organization
ends up with no one doing the responsibility. If there are overlaps, things become unclear and
may lead to more confusion and even conflict and worse wasted effort and perhaps even
 resources because of the unintended overlap. To illustrate, here is a story to show what happens
when there is a gap or overlap. “A boy wanted his pants shorter. So he went to his mother to ask
her to shorten it. His mother was busy computing grades and told her son to ask his sister to do
it. His sister was busy reviewing for the final exam and asked her brother to ask their elder
brother to do it. But his older brother was also busy with his school project and so could not also
attend to it. The boy highly frustrated went to sleep. His pants were beside him. After finishing
her grades, the mother peeped into her son’s room, saw the pants and remembered her son’s
request. So she took a pair of scissors and shorten them. The sister, before she went to bed also
remembered her brother’s request. Full of remorse she went to her younger brother’s room,
saw the pants, got a pair of scissors and shorten them, too. The older brother finally completed
his school project and suddenly remembered her brother’s asking for help to shorten his pants.
So he went to his younger brother’s room, got a pair of scissors and cut them, too. When the
younger brother woke up, he was surprised to see a pair of extremely short shorts. The pants he
wanted to make just a little bit shorter ended up too short to him. This is what happens when
there are gaps or overlap in an organization. The gaps leave an important thing in an
organization undone. The overlap results in unnecessary and counter productive redundant
procedures which ultimately lead to waste of resources.

3. Lack of Clarity versus Lack of Creativity

If employees are unclear what they are supposed to do, they often tailor their roles around
personal preferences instead of system wide goals, frequently leading to trouble. Take this for
instance: an angry passenger shouted “you lost my bag!” confronting an airline manager. The
manager’s response was to inquire “How was the flight?” Ï asked about my bag,” the passenger
said. “That’s not my job,”the manager replied. “See someone in baggage claim.”The passenger
did not leave a happy airline customer. The job of the manager was over defined and made the
manager uncreative and inefficient. Her job in relation to the airline system wide goals was
neither clear and so ended up giving the wrong answer that turned off the airline passenger. 4.
Flexibility versus Strict Adherence to Rules This happens if you accommodate by bending rules to
help someone or you stick strickly to rules no matter what and so unable to help someone who
is thrown into helpless situation. Or you may become too accommodating that all rules are no
morep.3 Your jobs are defined so clearly that you will stick to them even if circumstances are
such that by sticking to your job description the service or product that your organization
provides suffers. Structural Dilemma in a World Organization Like the United Nation (UN) A
structural dilemma in a world organization like the UN is the problem of the balance between
world order and national sovereignty re-stated as the balance between the measure of
international authority essential to the establishment of an organized common peace and the
continued freedom of action of the separate members of the world community or the balance
between interdependence and dependence.

Resolving Moral Dilemma

The following offer some techniques in resolving moral dilemma:
(1.) One way is to think of available options revealing that the dilemma does not really exist. This
happens where there are available alternative options. For instance one is experiencing a
dilemma between stealing or not stealing otherwise his family will either die of hunger or
survive. The creative moral agent will try to think of other alternatives like “alternative means of
income or support such as social safety net, charity, etc.
(2.)Another way is “Choosing the greater good and lesser evil.” Or one may apply the situation
ethics approach, following the rule, one must do only what he can where he is. Do not resort to
extraordinary or supernatural means.

Joseph Fletcher offers some principles in resolving moral dilemma. He uses Kant’s “ought
implies I can”rule. If I ought to do something then I can do it. By contraposition, If I cannot do
something, then I cannoy be obliged to do it. Or by implication, either I cannot be obliged to do
something or I can do it. In other words, one is only obliged to do something if and only if he can
do it. So Fletcher says “do what you can where you are.”Or quoting St. Augustine”s “Dilige, et
Quod vis fac”(love and do what you will). The extent of one’s obligation and resp[onsibility is the
extent of one’s ability and the measure of the “extent”is one’s capacity for love.

BRIEF SUMMARY Moral dilemmas come in three levels - individual, organizational or structural.
Individual dilemmas concerns dilemmas that individual person face. Organizational dilemmas
refers to dilemmas between organizational benefits versus individual member’s welfare.
Structural dilemmas concern dilemmas faced by groups or individual as a result of structural
relationship. A world organization like United Nations is usually faced with this dilemma:
sovereignty of nation versus world order. I confronted with a moral dilemma, “choose the
greater good and lesser evil” or “do only what you can where you are” (Fletcher) or “love and do
what you will”(St. Augustine). The extent of one’s obligation and responsibility is the extent of
one’s ability and the measure of the “extent”is one’s capacity for love. Activity 2: 1. “Man is not
made for the Sabbath.” “The Sabbath is made for man.”How can this guide you when face with
structural dilemma on Flexibility versus Strict Adherence to Rules