What is Moral Dilemma

(And the Three Levels of Moral Dilemmas)

August 27, 20212175 Views
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What is moral dilemma? How does a moral dilemma in ethics differ from other dilemmas? What
are moral dilemma examples? What are the three levels of moral dilemmas?

In one of his lectures, Filipino Philosophy professor and textbook author Jensen DG. Mañebog
explain these topics. The following is based considerably from his lecture on moral dilemma:

Moral Dilemma Meaning and Dilemma

Basically, the word ‘dilemma’ refers to a situation in which a tough choice has to be made
between two or more options, especially more or less equally undesirable ones.

From this meaning or definition alone, we can see that not all dilemmas are moral dilemmas.

‘What is moral dilemmas’

Many search for the keyword “What is moral dilemmas.” Also called ‘ethical dilemmas,’ moral
dilemmas are situations in which a difficult choice has to be made between two courses of
action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle.

It is safe to say that at the very least, moral dilemmas involve conflicts between moral
requirements.
Moral dilemma examples
In discussing moral dilemmas, the online Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy gives this
example from the Book I of Plato’s Republic:

“… Cephalus defines ‘justice’ as speaking the truth and paying one’s debts. Plato quickly refutes
this account by suggesting that it would be wrong to repay certain debts—for example, to return
a borrowed weapon to a friend who is not in his right mind.’

“Socrates’ point is not that repaying debts is without moral import; rather, he wants to show that
it is not always right to repay one’s debts, at least not exactly when the one to whom the debt is
owed demands repayment.’

“What we have here is a conflict between two moral norms: repaying one’s debts and protecting
others from harm…” (“Moral Dilemmas,” n.d.)

Notice that what is common to moral dilemmas is conflict. In each ethical dilemma, an agent
regards himself as having moral reasons to do each of two actions, but doing both actions seems
to be ethically not possible.

Moral dilemma in ethics

The following are the key features of a moral dilemma:

(a) the agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions;

(b) the agent can do each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both (or all) of the actions.

Thus, in moral dilemmas, the agent appears condemned to moral failure. That is, no matter what
he does, he will do something wrong, or fail to do something that he ought to do.

In our example above (the case given by Plato), many would say that it is more important to
protect people from harm than to return a borrowed weapon. Or, some would suggest that the
borrowed item can be returned later, when the owner no longer poses a threat to others.
Thus, we can say that the moral requirement to protect others from serious harm overrides the
ethical requirement to repay one’s debts by returning a borrowed item even when its owner so
demands.

Nonetheless, there are ethicists who propose that when one of the conflicting moral requirements
overrides the other, the case is not a ‘genuine moral dilemma.’

Therefore, in addition to the features mentioned above, in order to have a genuine moral
dilemma, some add that it must also be the case that:

(c) neither of the conflicting moral requirements is overridden.

The Three Levels of Moral Dilemmas

We can classify moral dilemmas according to levels: (a) personal, (b) organizational, and (c)
structural.

a. Personal Dilemmas
Simply put, these personal dilemmas are those experienced and resolved on the personal level.
Since many ethical decisions are personally made, many, if not most of, moral dilemmas fall
under, or boil down to, this level.

French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre gave an example or a case that could exemplify a personal
moral dilemma:

“Sartre tells of a student whose brother had been killed in the German offensive of 1940. The
student wanted to avenge his brother and to fight forces that he regarded as evil. But the student’s
mother was living with him, and he was her one consolation in life.’

“The student believed that he had conflicting obligations. Sartre describes him as being torn
between two kinds of morality: one of limited scope but certain efficacy, personal devotion to his
mother; the other of much wider scope but uncertain efficacy, attempting to contribute to the
defeat of an unjust aggressor.” (“Moral Dilemmas,” n.d.)

We can give many other examples of personal moral dilemmas. If someone makes conflicting
promises, he faces a moral conflict. When an individual has to choose between the life of a child
who is about to be delivered and the child’s mother, he faces an ethical dilemma.

b. Organizational Dilemmas
Basically, ethical cases encountered and resolved by social organizations are organizational
moral dilemmas. This category includes moral dilemmas in business, medical field, and public
sector.

For example, a hospital that believes that human life should not be deliberately shortened and
that unpreventable pain should not be tolerated encounters a conflict in resolving whether to
withdraw life support from a dying patient. This is a common moral dilemma faced by healthcare
organizations and medical institutions.

Moral dilemmas also arise in professional work. Administrative bodies in business are
confronted with situations in which several courses of action are possible but none of them
provide a totally successful outcome to those affected by the decision or actions taken.

These moral dilemmas in business involve issues about corporate practices, policies, business
behaviors, and the conducts and relationships of individuals in the organizations. Other
business-related dilemmas pertain to the social responsibility of businesses, employee rights,
harassment, labor unions, misleading advertising, job discrimination, and whistle blowing.

On the part of public sector, government leaders and employees have a moral duty to act in a
manner that is fair and unbiased. They should be loyal to the public and ought to put public
interest before personal gain, and fulfill duties of competency, integrity, accountability, and
transparency.
Having said that, public officials nonetheless may encounter foreseeable moral dilemmas in
fulfilling these ideals. So ethical or moral dilemmas which arise include the following examples:

-whether or not to favor family, friends, or campaign contributors over other constituents;

-favoring the agenda of one’s political party over a policy one believes to be good for the
community;

– dealing with conflicting public duties inherent in serving both as a council member and as a
member of an agency or commission;

– resigning from organizations in which membership may give rise to future conflicts;

– becoming whistle blower even if it means potentially derailing a policy objective one is
pursuing; and,

– accepting gifts if it is legally permitted but creates the appearance of impropriety.

c. Structural Dilemmas
These structural moral dilemmas pertain to cases involving network of institutions and operative
theoretical paradigms. As they usually encompass multi-sectoral institutions and organizations,
they may be larger in scope and extent than organizational dilemmas.

An example is the prices of medicine in the Philippines which are higher compared to other
countries in Asia and in countries of similar economic status. Factors affecting medicine prices
include the cost of research, presence of competition in the market, government regulations, and
patent protection.

The institutions concerned may want to lower the costs of medicine, thereby benefiting the
Filipino public, but such a move may ruin the interests or legal rights of the involved researchers,
inventors or discoverers, and pharmaceutical companies which own the patent of the medicines
or healthcare technologies.
An example of dilemma which is also structural in nature is that of Universal Health Care
(UHC). Locally applied, it is called “Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” (KP). It is the provision to every
Filipino of the highest possible quality of health care that is accessible, efficient, equitably
distributed, adequately funded, fairly financed, and appropriately used by an informed and
empowered public.

“Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” (KP), as a government mandate, aims to ensure that every Filipino
shall receive affordable and quality health benefits by (ideally) providing adequate resources –
health human resources, health facilities, and health financing.

Nonetheless, health financing is first and foremost a big issue here. Government could set aside
bigger budget for health for the implementation of this provision. But then, this would mean
cutting down allocations on other sectors (such as education or public works.).