Chapter 4:

Moral Dilemma
Before dealing with dilemma, I would like to make a note here, because for sure sooner or later
one among you, if not all, will be confused between dilemma and problem. So before you'll get to
this point, I would like to resolve that possible problem/confusion already. The difference
between dilemma and problem is that dilemma is applied in a circumstance or context in which a
choice must be made between two or more alternatives or options that seems equally undesirable
or adverse result, however problem is a difficulty encountered by a person that needs to be
resolved or dealt with. In other words, in problem you need to find a solution or answer that
would resolve the existing difficulty at hand.
I - Understanding the term Dilemma
First of all, let us define the term dilemma before we discuss the nature and dynamics or moral
dilemmas. A dilemma is a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more
conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable, in other words none of the options is
considerable. As we can see, the key here is that the person has a choice to make, however all of
the choices are against to his desire or wants. For example, a town mayor faces a dilemma about
how to protect and preserve a virgin forest and at the same time allow miners and loggers for
economic development in the town. Another example, a student may cheat during examination
which he/she knows that it is bad and if be caught he/she may be scolded and will be embarrass,
or he/she may passed his/her paper without answer that would result to a failing grade. It must be
noted, however, that if a person is in a difficult situation but he/she is not forced to choose
between two or more options, then that person is not in a dilemma. The least that we can say is
that person is just experiencing a problematic or distressful situation. Thus, the most logical thing
to do for that person is to look for alternatives or solutions to address the problem. Dilemma is at
hand when it involves human actions which have moral implications, and this is what we called
ethical or moral dilemmas. Moral dilemmas, therefore, are situations where persons, or the moral
agents are forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves
the situation in a morally acceptable manner. In other words the options at hand or the available
choices could not give a morally satisfying solution. Consider this example: Angelina is a deeply
religious person; hence, she considers killing human being is absolutely wrong. Unfortunately,
the doctor found out that she is having an ectopic pregnancy. As we all know, an ectopic
pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian
tube. In other words, in ectopic pregnancy, the fetus does not develop in the uterus. Now, if this
happens, the development of the fetus will definitely endanger the mother. So looking at
Angelina's situation that if she continues with her ectopic pregnancy, then there is a big
possibility that she will die. According to the experts, the best way to save Angelina's life is to
extract or shall we say abort the fetus, which necessarily implies killing the fetus. If we do not
abort the fetus, then Angelina as well as the fetus, will be in great danger and eventually will die.
In the above example of a moral dilemma, Angelina is faced with two conflicting options,
namely, either she resorts to abortion, which will save her life but at the same time jeopardized
her moral integrity or does not resort to abortion but endangers her life as well as the fetus.
Indeed, Angelina is faced with great moral dilemma in here. There are three conditions set by the
moralists which must be present in a situations to be considered moral dilemmas. 1. The person
or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about which course of actions is best.
Here, the moral agent must choose the best option and act accordingly. Sign in H Find * Replace
- R Select - In the case of the example above, Angelina may opt to abort the fetus as the best
course of action. 1. There must be different courses of actions to choose from. Hence, as already
pointed out above, there must be two or more conflicting options to choose from for moral
dilemmas to occur. 2. No matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always
compromised. This means that, there is no perfect solution to the problem. Following this reason,
we say that in moral dilemmas, the moral agent is seemed fated to commit something wrong.
Which implies that he/she is bound to fail morally, because in one way or another he/she will fail
to do something which he/she ought to do. In other words, by choosing one of the possible
requirements or options, the person also fails on others. II - TYPES OF MORAL DILEMMAS
There are several types of moral dilemmas, but the most common of them are categorized into the
following: 1. Epistemic and ontological, 2. Self-imposed and world-imposed, 3. Obligation
dilemma and prohibition, and 4. Single and multi-person. 1. Epistemic and ontological dilemmas
A - EPISTEMIC MORAL DILEMMAS This type of dilemma occurs in a situations wherein two
or more moral requirements conflict with each other and that the moral agent could hardly knows
which of the conflicting moral requirements takes precedence over the other. In other words, the
moral agent here does not know which option is morally right or wrong. For instance, I ought to
honor my promised to my wife to have an early dinner to celebrate our anniversary, but on my
way home, I pass by a sick old man that needs help and be brought to the hospital. In an actual
situation, we post a question, where does my actual duty lies now? We cannot deny that there are
conflicting duties here, but we need to note that we want a fuller knowledge of the situation: Is an
important purpose being served by having an early dinner in celebrating our anniversary when I
get home? How serious is the condition of the sick old man? Indeed, I could hardly decide which
option is morally right in this situation. However, one option must be better than the other; only, it
needs fuller knowledge of the situation-thus the term "epistemic" moral dilemmas. B -
ONTOLOGICAL MORAL DILEMMAS This type of dilemma involve a situations wherein two
or more moral requirements conflict with each other, yet neither of these conflicting moral
requirements overrides each other. This is not to say that the moral agent does not know which
moral requirement is stronger than the other. The point is that neither of the moral requirements is
stronger than the other; hence the moral agent can hardly choose between the conflicting moral
requirements. For instance, a military doctor is attending to the needs of the wounded soldiers in
the middle of the war. Unfortunately, two soldiers urgently need a blood transfusion. However,
only one bag of blood is available at the moment. To whom shall the doctor administer the blood
transfusion? For sure, we could not tell whether administering a blood transfusion to soldier A is
more moral than administering a blood transfusion to soldier B, and vice versa. 2. Self-imposed
and world-imposed dilemmas A. SELF-IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA This type of dilemma is
caused by the moral agent's wrongdoings. For example, Jesus is running for the position of the
town mayor. During the campaign period, he promised the indigenous peoples in his community
to protect their virgin forest just to gain their votes, but at the same time, he seeks financial
support from a mining corporation. Fortunately, Peter won the elections, yet he is faced with the
dilemma of fulfilling his promised to the indigenous people and at the same time allows the
mining corporation to destroy their forest. Indeed, through his own actions, Jesus is created a
situation in which it is impossible for him to discharge from both obligations. B. WORLD-
IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA Sign in This type of dilemma is applied to a certain events in the
world that placed the agent in a situation of moral conflict. William Styron's famous Sophie's
Choice is a classic example. " Sophie Zawistowska has been asked to choose which of her two
children, Eva or Jan, will be sent to the gas chamber in Auschwitz. An SS doctor, Fritz Jemand
von Niemand, will grant a dispensation to only one of Sophie's children. If she does not choose
which one should live, Dr. von Niemand will send both to their death. Sophie chooses her
daughter Eva to go to the gas chamber. Her son, Jan is sent to the Children's Camp." 3. Obligation
dilemma and prohibition dilemmas * OBLIGATION DILEMMAS are situations in which more
than one feasible action is obligatory, * PROHIBITION DILEMMAS are involve cases in which
all feasible actions are forbidden. The famous "Sartre's Student" is a classic example. It reads:
Sartre uses the anecdote of a former student's moral dilemma during World War II to illustrate
both the limits of making decisions based on a defined moral code and the erroneousness of
blaming "passions" for people's actions. The French student's brother was killed in 1940 by the
Germans, but his father nonetheless later abandoned the family to collaborate with the Germans.
The student had to choose between staying in France with his mother, who "found her only
comfort in him", and leaving to fight with the free French against the German occupation. After
realizing he was caught between moral principles- family and nation, or the obligation to care for
his mother and the obligation to avenge his brother's death-he came to Sartre for advice. The
philosopher told his student that there was no correct or incorrect decision. Neither moral codes
nor the strength of his affections for one or the other party could determine what to do; rather, the
student had to "invent" his own solution to the problem. The famous Sophie's Choice, as
mentioned above, is a classic example of prohibition dilemmas. 4. Single and multi-person
dilemmas * SINGLE AGENT DILEMMA, in this form of dilemma the moral agent is compelled
to act on two or more equally the same moral options but he/she cannot choose both. For
instance, a medical doctor found out that his/her patient has HIV. For sure, the medical doctor
may experience tension between the legal requirement to report the case and the desire to respect
confidentiality, although the medical code of ethics acknowledges our obligation to follow legal
requirements and to intervene to protect the vulnerable. * MULTI-PERSON DILEMMA, The
multi-person dilemma occurs in situations that involve several persons like a family, an
organization, or a community who is expected to come up with consensual decision on a moral
issue at hand. A family may be torn between choosing to terminate or prolong the life of a family
member. An organization may have to choose between complying with the wage law by cutting
its workforce or by retaining its current workforce by paying them below the required minimum
wage. The multi-person dilemma requires more than choosing what is right, it also entails that the
persons involved reached a general consensus. In such a manner, the moral obligation to do what
is right becomes more complicated. On the one hand, the integrity of the decision ought to be
defended on moral grounds. On the other hand, the decision must also prevent the organization
from breaking apart" I - Resolving Moral dilemmas The largest struggle in trying to resolve a
moral dilemma is recognizing that whatever action you take, it will not be completely ethical. It
will just be the most ethical in comparison with the other choices. (lesser evil) Philosophers have
attempted to find solutions to moral dilemmas for centuries. They have discussed and attempted
to find the best ways to resolve them, in order to help us live better and reduce the suffering that
we may face. Here are a few pieces of advice to help resolve moral dilemmas: advise Be
reasonable, not emotional We have a greater chance of overcoming these struggles if we logically
work through them. We just need to determine and analyse the aspects of the dilemma in order to
better conclude what action is the greatest good. Remember this class, that Emotion can cloud
your judgment of what may be the best ethical outcome. So whatever problems and dilemmas
you face always be reasonable. Your emotion won't help you grow to become a better you
(person). Choose the greater good or the lesser evil Perhaps the common soundest piece of advice
is to conclude which choice allows for the greatest good, or the less evil. However, this isn't
simple and will take much consideration. Sign in However, if there is an action that is on balance
morally superior, despite other personal or social implications, then it is the best action to take. Is
there an alternative? Analysing the situation in greater detail may reveal alternative options that
were not immediately lemma better than the melate obvious. Is there an alternative choice or
action that will resolve the dilemma better than the ones you have in front of you? Take time to
recognise if there is. What are the consequences? Weighing up the positive and negative
consequences of each action will give a clearer picture of the best choice to make. Each option
may have a number of negative consequences, but if one has more positive consequences and less
negative, then it is on the balance the right action to take. What would a good person's do?
Sometimes a useful thing to do would be to just simply ask: What would a good person do?
Imagine yourself as a truly virtuous and moral character and determine what they would do,
regardless of your own character and the personal or social factors that may influence by your
decision. Resolving moral dilemmas will not be easy Never think too much about a dilemma.
Answers come to a relaxed mind; time allows things to fall into place; a calm attitude yields the
best results. The dilemmas that we face will be complex and arduous. The advice given by
philosophers will aid us when trying to resolve them. However, it is not as straightforward as
using one piece of advice to solve a single dilemma. Often, it will be a combination of many of
them that will give us the best chance of taking the correct action. Most of the time, all of them
will be relevant in every dilemma that we face. But there is one thing that all of these methods of
resolutions promote: the importance of reason. Moral dilemmas can seem so over-facing that our
emotions can prevent us from making an informed decision. Or, they can misguide us into
making the wrong decision. Taking a step back to dissect and analyse the dilemma will allow for
a better perspective on the situation. This allows you to see more clearly the consequences of
each action, the good and evil of each action and any alternatives that may present themselves.
However, perhaps the best piece of advice is just recognising that resolving moral dilemmas will
not be easy. It will be difficult and may cause us deep anguish as we wrestle between conflicting
moral options. You are better equipped to face these dilemmas if you are aware of it. Thinking
reasonably, and not being overwhelmed by the dilemma, will be a good start as well.