Binalonan, Pangasinan

1 Semester | A.Y. 2020-2021

st

Module 2
Moral Dilemmas

Course Title: Ethics

Course Code: GE 8

Name: _________________________________
Course and Year: ________________________
Date and Time Allotment: __________________

Introduction
This module entitled Moral Dilemmas is about to discuss the two crucial features of moral
dilemmas; the three conditions; its different types and examples; the three levels of moral dilemmas; and
ways how to resolve moral dilemmas. These are the topics needed in this module in order for the students
to further their knowledge on how to deal with moral conflicts, enhance their critical thinking skills, and
develop their moral decision making.

I. Objectives
In this module, you will:
1. Be able to detect moral dilemma;
2. Be able to identify the levels of moral dilemma; and
3. Be able to recall a moral experience.

II. Lecture and Discussions of the Lesson/s

Introduction
H.E. Mason (1996), expounds that moral conflict is a fact of moral life. It is something we can never
do away with. It is embedded in the crucial decisions that we make, particularly in moments that we are
faced with what is and what should be.
As morals as we want to be, our convictions are oftentimes challenged, and if not strong enough,
are dejectedly compromise. These challenges are products of the evolving values and moral systems of our
society. It is thus necessary that we are in touch with the norms in our society as it mirrors the moral
consciousness of the people.
We will experience moral dilemmas due to inconsistency in our principles. In understanding the
morality of an individual, we need to emphasize that majority of the moral persons are those who are sturdily
dispose to stand fast by their reflectively chosen principles and ideals when tempted by considerations
chosen that are morally irrelevant (Louden, 1992).

What are Moral Dilemmas?

Moral Dilemmas – are situations where persons who are called “moral agents” in ethics are forced to
choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation in a morally
acceptable manner.
 We will experience moral dilemma if we are faced with two actions, each of which, it would be
correct to say in the appropriate sense of ‘ought’, that it ought to be done, and both of which we
 cannot do. This means that we either go straight or do it the other way. We, then, ought to make
moral choices, with our own moral choices (Mason, 1996).
 According to Benjamin Labastin, in moral dilemmas, the moral agent “seems fated to commit
something wrong which implies that she/he is bound to morally fail because in one way or another
she/he will fail to do something which she/he ought to do. In other words, by choosing one of the
possible moral requirements, the person also fails on others.”

Two crucial features of Moral Dilemmas:

1. The agent is required to do each of the two (or more) actions; the agent can do each of the actions; but
the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions.
2. The agent, thus seems condemned to moral failure; no matter what she does, she will do something
wrong or fail to do something that she ought to do.

Three conditions that must be present in Moral Dilemma according to Karen Allen:
1. The person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about which course of action is
best.
2. There must be different courses of action to choose from.
3. No matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always compromised.

Types of Moral Dilemmas:

1. Epistemic and Ontological Dilemmas;
2. Self-imposed and World-imposed Dilemmas;
3. Obligation Dilemmas and Prohibition Dilemmas; and
4. Single Agent and Multi-person Dilemmas.

1.Epistemic Moral Dilemma

 There are two or more moral requirements that conflict with each other.
 The moral agent hardly knows which one takes precedence over the other.
*In other words, the moral agent here does not know which option is morally right or wrong.
Example:
*A father ought a promise to his son to be home early, but on his way home he saw a sick old man who
needs to be brought to the hospital. Where does his actual duty lie? We cannot deny that we want a fuller
knowledge of the situation:
a) Is an important purpose being served by his getting home early?
b) How serious is the condition of the sick old man?
*One option must better than the other; only, it needs fuller knowledge of the situation.
Ontological Moral Dilemma
 There are two or more moral requirement that conflict with each other, yet neither of these conflicting
moral requirements overrides each other;
 Neither of the moral requirements is stronger than the other; hence, the moral agent can hardly choose
between the conflicting moral requirements.
Example:
*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.
a) To whom shall the doctor administer the blood transfusion?
b) 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 Moral Dilemma

 Caused by the moral agent’s wrongdoings
Example:
*David is running for the position of town mayor. During the campaign period, he promised the indigenous
people 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 to destroy their forest. Fortunately, David won the election, 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, David created a situation in which
it is impossible for him to be discharged from both obligations.
World-imposed Moral Dilemma
 Certain events in the world place the moral agent in a situation of moral conflict
Example:
*William Styron’s famous Sophie’s Choice. 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
 More than one feasible action is obligatory
Example: Sartre’s Student
*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.
Prohibition Dilemmas
 All Feasible actions are forbidden
 Example: Sophie’s Choice

4.Single Agent Dilemma

 The agent “ought all things considered, to do A, ought, all things considered, to do B, and she cannot do
both A and B.”
*In other words, the moral agent is compelled to act on two or more equally the same moral options but she
cannot choose both.
Example:
*A medical doctor found out that 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
 One agent, P1 ought to do A, a second agent, P2 ought to do B, and though each agent can do what he
ought to do, it is not possible both for P1 to do A and P2 to do B.”
*Requires more than choosing what is right; it also entails that the persons involved reached a general
consensus.
*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.
Example:
*A family may be 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.

Other example of Moral Dilemma

Let us study the concept of euthanasia and look at the morality of the act. This hinges on the idea
that “life is good and that existing life should be preserve as a matter of course, unless some overriding
principles supersedes the innate value of an ongoing life,” (Whiting, 2001).
On November 2017, the Australia state parliament of Victoria has legalized voluntary
euthanasia after 20 years (McGuirk, 2017). State Premier Daniel Andrews, euthanasia advocate after his
father died of cancer in 2016, called on the reform as compassionate saying that… “I’m very proud to have
made this reform and to have led a team that has delivered the sort of leadership that all Victorians can be
proud of.”
Euthanasia– Defined as exists to at least help a patient die a good death.
 Also called as assisted suicide.
 Figure 1. A Brief History of Euthanasia (Venngage, n.d.)

 Figure 1. A Brief History of Euthanasia (Venngage, n.d.)

Types of Euthanasia (Ezra, 2006)
As defined, euthanasia exists to at least help a patient die a good death. Ezra (2006), explained it,
with the assumption that the patient has an acute, terminal, chronic illness that medical treatment cannot
remedy or even cure.
1. Voluntary Active Euthanasia (Mercy Death)
 The administration, by the physician, of a lethal agent, actively permitted by the patient, with
the intent to cause the latter’s death, for the purpose of relieving intolerable, intractable, and
incurable pain.
 Refers to direct actions to terminate the lives of terminally ill patients that explicitly request to
die or expressed desire and consent of the person concerned.
2. Non-Voluntary Active Euthanasia
 A form of mercy killing that takes direct actions to terminate a patient’s life.
 When the euthanasia is practiced against the will of the person.

Three Levels of Moral Dilemma

1. Individual. The dilemma here is when the employee’s ethical standards are in opposition to that of his or
her employer, which could lead to tensions in the workplace.
2. Organizational. Ethical standards are seen in company policies. Still and all, there might be a gap
between those who run the business whose ethical standards deviate from that of the organization.
This might cause ethical challenges and conflicts for those who are working in the company.
3. Systemic. Also called as the systemic level, here, ethics is predisposed by the larger operating
environment of the company. Political pressures, economic conditions, societal attitudes and others,
can affect the operating standards and policies of the organization where it might face moral dilemmas
outside of the organization but within the macro-society where it belongs.

Individual moral dilemmas are far more challenging as we are tasked to decide the morality of our
actions. In order for us to manage ethical challenges, there is always that need to make sure our decisions
have been well thought out.
Below are the ways on how to resolve moral dilemmas that would be helpful in our ethical
decision-making varying circumstances and capacities:

How to resolve moral dilemmas?

1. Be reasonable, not emotional.
 We have a greater chance of overcoming these struggles if we logically work through them.
Analyse the aspects of the dilemma in order to better conclude what action is the greatest good.
Emotion can cloud our judgment of what may be the best ethical outcome.

2. Choose the greater good or the lesser evil.

 The soundest piece of advice is to conclude which choice allows for the greatest good, or the less
evil. This isn’t simple and will take much consideration.

3. Is there an alternative?
 Analysing the situation in greater detail may reveal alternative options that were not immediately
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 recognize if there is an alternative.
4. 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 outcome and less negative, then it is the right action to take.

5. What would a good person do?

 Imagine yourself as a truly virtuous and morally right and determine what they would do, regardless
of your own character and the personal or social factors that may influence your decision.

Summary
We build our characters through how we make choices in different situations we face in our lives.
In dealing with moral dilemmas we develop a certain way of being rational person as Aristotle once said
that, “Man is born by nature, a political animal.” As we become more conscious of the moral issues and
dilemma of people in our community, the more that we ought to live by the moral principles that we believe
are helpful and beneficial to the society.

Study Questions
1. What are moral dilemmas?
2. What are the two crucial features of moral dilemmas?
3. What are the three conditions that must be present in moral dilemma according to Karen Allen?
4. What are the three levels of moral dilemma?
5. How do you understand the concept of euthanasia?