KEY CONCEPTS IN ETHICS

In this lesson, you

are expected to: Distinguish the levels of moral dilemma
distinguish the types of moral
dilemma; and
describe and give examples of the
different types of moral dilemmas
Dilemma
and
Moral
Dilemmas
 A dilemma is a situation where a person is
Dilemma forced to choose between two or more
conflicting options, neither of which is
acceptable.
and A person has choices to make that will all
have results she does not want
Moral (De Guzman, 2017).
Dilemmas
 However, it must be noted that if a
person is in a difficult situation but is
Dilemma not forced to choose between two or
more options, then that person is not in
and a dilemma. The least that we can say is
that the person is just experiencing a
Moral problematic or distressful situation.
Thus, the most logical thing to do for
Dilemmas that person is to look for alternatives or
solutions to address the problem
(Gallinero, 2018).
Dilemma
When dilemmas involve human
and actions which have moral
implications, they are called
Moral ethical or moral dilemmas.
Dilemmas
 Moral dilemmas are situations
Dilemma where persons (“moral agents”)
are forced to choose between two
and or more conflicting options, neither
of which resolves the situation in a
Moral morally acceptable manner.
Dilemmas
 McConnell (2022) identifies the crucial
Dilemma features of a moral or ethical
dilemma:
and  The agent (person) is required to do
one of two moral options;
Moral  The agent (person) is capable of
Dilemmas doing each one; and,
 The agent (person) cannot do both
The
Three Individual Dilemma,
Levels of Organizational Dilemma
Moral & Structural Dilemma
Dilemma
The
1. Individual Moral Dilemma
Three - conflict arrives when a person is asked to
choose between two important values for
Levels of him/her for example, choosing between
one’s duties to his/her family and one’s love
for another person. It is an individual’s damn-
Moral if-you-do and damn-if-you-don’t situation.
- Personal level
Dilemma
 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

Example 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.
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 obligations – to save the wife or
obey the law.
2. Organizational Moral Dilemma
- 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 mission of a Grace Catholic
School is to serve the poor by
giving quality education. It is torn
between the obligation to charge
Example low tuition fee to help the poor and
to pay better salaries to keep
quality teachers.
The example 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 Moral Dilemma
-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.
3. 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, the 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 that own the patent
of the medicines or healthcare technologies.
  Epistemic
 Ontological
Types of  Self-imposed
 World-imposed
Moral  Obligation

Dilemmas  Prohibition
 Single agent; and
 Multi-person dilemmas.
  Epistemic moral dilemmas involve
Types of situations wherein two or more moral
requirements conflict with each other and
that the moral agent hardly knows which of
Moral the conflicting moral requirements takes
precedence over the other. In other words,
the moral agent here does not know which
Dilemmas option is morally right or wrong. (Gallinero,
2018)
  Example: I ought to honor my promise to my son
to be home early, but on my way home I saw a sick
old man who needs to be brought to the hospital.
Types of Where does my actual duty lie? We cannot deny
that there are conflicting duties (moral
requirements) here, but we need to note that we
Moral want a fuller knowledge of the situation: Is an
important purpose being served by my getting
home early? How serious is the condition of the
Dilemmas 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.
  Ontological moral dilemmas involve
situations wherein two or more moral
requirements conflict with each other, yet
Types of neither of these conflicting moral
requirements overrides each other. This is
Moral not to say that the moral agent does not
know which moral requirement is stronger
than the other. The point is that neither of
Dilemmas 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
Types of middle of the war. Unfortunately, two
soldiers urgently need a blood transfusion.
However, only one bag of blood is available
Moral at the moment. To whom shall the doctor
administer the blood transfusion? For sure,
we could not tell whether administering a
Dilemmas blood transfusion to Soldier A is more moral
than administering a blood transfusion to
Soldier B, and vice versa.
  Self-imposed moral dilemma is caused
by the moral agent’s wrongdoings
 Example: David is running for the position of the town
Types of 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

Moral time, he seeks financial support from a mining

corporation. Fortunately, David won the elections, yet
he is faced with the dilemma of fulfilling his promised to
the indigenous peoples and at the same time allows the
Dilemmas 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: When the moral dilemma
is brought about by others and the person
Types of must resolve the matter, it is referred to as
a world-imposed moral dilemma, and is
Moral also often an example of a social dilemma.
The person is in the situation, but not due to
any wrongdoing or mistake they are
Dilemmas responsible for.
  Example: “Sophie Zawistowska has been
asked to choose which of her two children,
Types of Eva or Jan, will be sent to the gas chamber
in Auschwitz. An SS doctor, Fritz Jemand
von Niemand, will grant a dispensation to
Moral only one of Sophie’s children. If she does
not choose which one should live, Dr. von
Niemand will send both to their death.
Dilemmas Sophie chooses her daughter Eva to go to
the gas chamber. Her son, Jan, is sent to
the Children’s Camp.”
  Obligation dilemmas are situations in
which more than one possible action is
obligatory.
Types of  Some moral dilemmas involve options in
which the person feels they must enact
Moral each one. It is a sense of responsibility to
engage both options that creates the moral
dilemma. The tension arises because they
Dilemmas can only choose one, but they are obligated
to do both.
 Imagine a working individual
Types of struggling to balance work
responsibilities with eldercare. On
Moral one hand, they want to provide
proper care for their elderly parent
Dilemmas but on the other hand, they fear
losing their job.
 Prohibition dilemmas involve cases
Types of in which all possible actions are
forbidden.
Moral Each option would normally not be
considered due to its unethical nature.
However, the person must choose.
Dilemmas
 The president of a company
knows that they are dependent on
Types of doing business with another
country that has severe human
rights violations. If they move out
Moral of that market it will mean huge
losses. If they stay, it means
Dilemmas putting money in the pockets of
people that commit crimes against
humanity.
  Single agent dilemma, the agent “ought all
Types of 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
Moral agent is forced to act on two or more
equally the same moral options but she
Dilemmas cannot choose both
 For instance, a medical doctor found
out that her patient has HIV. For sure,
Types of the medical doctor may experience
tension between the legal requirement
to report the case and the desire to
Moral respect confidentiality, although the
medical code of ethics acknowledges
Dilemmas our obligation to follow legal
requirements and to intervene to
protect the vulnerable.
 The multi-person dilemma
occurs in situations that involve
Types of several persons like a family, an
organization, or a community who
Moral is expected to come up with
consensual decision on a moral
Dilemmas issue at hand.
 A family may be torn between choosing to
terminate or prolong the life of a family
member.
 (1.) One way is to think of available
options revealing that the dilemma does
not really exist. This happens where there
Resolving are available alternative options. For
instance, one is experiencing a dilemma
Moral between stealing or not stealing otherwise
his family will either die of hunger or
Dilemma 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
Resolving 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
Moral something then I can do it. By contraposition, If I cannot do
something, then I cannot be obliged to do it. Or by
Dilemma 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.” 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.
 1. Selling a Used Car: The person has two close
friends. One is considering buying a car from the
other. They know the car has a serious problem
with the engine, but their friend is not disclosing
it.
Activity 2. Recalling a Faulty Product: The CEO of a large
corporation has been informed that one of their
products causes cancer in lab rats. The mortality
rate is low and the company has spent millions
on R&D and marketing. Recalling the product
could mean bankruptcy and thousands of lost
jobs.
 3. In Geo-Politics: The president of a company knows that
they are dependent on doing business with another country
that has severe human rights violations. If they move out of
that market it will mean huge losses. If they stay, it means
putting money in the pockets of people who commit crimes
against humanity.

Activity 4. Prioritizing Elder Care: Imagine a working individual

struggling to balance work responsibilities with eldercare.
On one hand, they want to provide proper care for their
elderly parent but on the other hand, they fear losing their
job.
5. Business Versus Environment: A construction company
discovers an endangered species habitat in an area
planned for building a lucrative housing project.
 (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
Resolving 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
Moral something then I can do it. By contraposition, If I cannot do
something, then I cannot be obliged to do it. Or by
Dilemma 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.” 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.