Republic of the Philippines

BICOL STATE COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

City of Naga

Module 1, Lesson 4 Three Levels of Moral Dilemnas

Intended Learning Outcome:

• illustrate the three levels of moral dilemma

Introduction

This Lesson reinforces your understanding of moral dilemmas. After understanding the meaning
or moral dilemmas, let us now illustrate three levels of moral dilemma. In this Lesson, you are expected
to give examples of levels of moral dilemmas. A research on some significant events in history may help
you arrive at a concrete understanding of structural dilemma most especially.

Activity:

Read the following dilemmas:

1. The mission of Covee Catholic School is to serve the poor by giving quality education. It is torn
between the obligation to charge low tuition to help the poor and to pay better salaries to keep
quality teachers.
2. Yuhan’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might save her.
The drug had been discovered by a local chemist, and Yuhan 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 Yuhan could afford. Yuhan 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. A principal ought to welcome and encourage the parents and community participation in school
affairs. Based on her experience, parents and communities 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 thing
on time.
Discussion:

A. Individual

This refers to personal dilemmas. It is individual’s damn if-you-do-and-damn-if-you-don't

situation.

The case of Yuhan as given in the Activity phase of the lesson is one of the best-known individual
dilemmas of Kohlberg's (1958).

Kohlberg’s dilemma question was as follows: “Should Yuhan have stolen the drug.” (Mackinnon,
B., etal 2015) If he did not steal the drug that would mean his wife. The dilemma is faced by an individual
who is torn between 2 obligations – to save the wife or obey the law. So, this is an example of an individual
dilemma.

B. Organizational

An organizational dilemma is a puzzle posed by the dual necessities of a social organization and
members’ self-interest and organizational welfare or between group interest and organizational well-
being...(Wagner, J. 2019)

The example of the catholic school in the Activity phase of the lesson 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 keep quality faculty the school must raise their salary and consequently, must raise
tuition.

Organizational dilemmas may likewise occur in business, medical, and public sector.

The following hypothetical case highlights the story of Mr. Brown, a 74-year-old man who is
serioulsly ill of metastatic lung cancer. Mr. Brown completed a full course of radiation therapy as well as
chemotherapy for treatment of his cancer, and he is now hospitalized with severe shortness of breath and
pneumonia. His physician has managed the symptoms associated with the lung disease, including chest
pain, fever, infection, and respiratory distress but believes that there are no other options available to
aggressively treat the underlying cancer...Both Mr. Brown and his wife clearly state that they ‘want
everything done.’

The dilemma here lies in the conflicting concerns: a)

the financial problems of Mr. Brown and his wife, b) the
hospital concern of focusing its attention on this hopeless
patient when there are other cases which have still possible
remedies, c) the hospital patient’s concern, particularly their
need of the medicine used by Mr. Brown, c) the concern of
the medical staff, et al.

Organizational dilemmas arise due to different

opposing concerns between various groupings in an organization.
C. Structural
The case of the principal whether to be participatory or not in school’s affairs but due to
her not so favorable experience of attempting to be participatory ended up to one-woman rule
is an example of a structural dilemma.

Resolving Moral Dilemma

An ethical dilemma (ethical paradox or moral dilemma) is a problem in the decision-

making process between two possible options, neither of which is absolutely acceptable from an
ethical perspective. Although we face many ethical and moral problems in our lives, most of them
come with relatively straightforward solutions.

On the other hand, ethical dilemmas are extremely complicated challenges that cannot
be easily solved. Therefore, the ability to find the optimal solution in such situations is critical to
everyone.

Every person may encounter an ethical dilemma in almost every aspect of their life,
including personal, social, and professional.

How to Solve an Ethical Dilemma?

The biggest challenge of an ethical dilemma is that it does not offer an obvious solution
that would comply with ethics al norms. Throughout the history of humanity, people have faced
such dilemmas, and philosophers aimed and worked to find solutions to them.

The following approaches to solve an ethical dilemma were deduced:

1. Refute the paradox (dilemma): The situation must be carefully analyzed. In some cases, the
existence of the dilemma can be logically refuted.
2. Value theory approach: Choose the alternative that offers the greater good or the lesser evil.
3. Find alternative solutions: In some cases, the problem can be reconsidered, and new
alternative solutions may arise.
Key Concepts:

➢ Moral dilemmas come in three levels ~ individual, organizational and structural

➢ Individual dilemmas are concerned with dilemmas that individual persons face.
➢ Organizational dilemmas refer to dilemmas between organizational benefits versus individual
member’s welfare.
➢ Structural dilemmas concern dilemmas faced by groups or individuals as a result of structural
relationships.

Reflection:

What structural dilemma have you experienced? How did you deal with it? Are
you happy with how you dealt with it?

Thank you, cmf

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References:

Corpuz, Ruben, Corpuz, Brenda. 2020. Ethics. Lorimar Publishing Inc.

Bulaong, Calano, Lagliva, Mariano, Principe. 2018. Ethics: Foundations of Moral Valuation

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/ethical-dilemma/