What are Moral Dilemmas?

First of all, let us define the term dilemma before we discuss the nature and dynamics of 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. As we can see, the key here is that the person has choices to make that
will all have results she does not want. 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.

It must be noted, however, that if a person is in a difficult situation but 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 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.

When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral implications, they are called ethical or moral
dilemmas.

Moral dilemmas, therefore, 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. Consider the following example:

Lindsay is a deeply religious person; hence, she considers killing humans absolutely wrong.
Unfortunately, it is found out that Lindsay is having an ectopic pregnancy. As is well known, an ectopic
pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian tubes.
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. Thus, if Lindsay continues with her
pregnancy, then there is a big possibility that she will die. According to experts, the best way to save
Lindsay’s life is to abort the fetus, which necessarily implies killing the fetus. If we do not abort the fetus,
then Lindsay, as well as the fetus, will die.

In the above example of a moral dilemma, Lindsay is faced with two conflicting options, namely, either
she resorts to abortion, which will save her life but at the same time jeopardizes her moral integrity or
does not resort to abortion but endangers her life as well as the fetus. Indeed, Lindsay is faced with a
huge moral dilemma.

According to Karen Allen, there are three conditions that must be present for situations to be considered
moral dilemmas. First, the person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about
which course of action is best. Here, the moral agent must choose the best option and act accordingly. In
the case of the example of above, Lindsay may opt to abort the fetus as the best course of action. Second,
there must be different courses of action 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. And third, no
matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always compromised. This means that,
according to Allen, there is no perfect solution to the problem. And for this reason, according to
Benjiemen Labastin, in moral dilemmas, the moral agent “seems fated to commit something wrong
which implies that she is bound to morally fail because in one way or another she will fail to do
something which she ought to do. In other words, by choosing one of the possible moral requirements,
the person also fails on others.”
MORAL DILEMMAS FOR STUDENTS

There are times when we cannot think of what is right or wrong or what we should do or we shouldn't.
Moral dilemma generally refers to the situation, where you have to choose between two alternatives,
that generally are equally unpleasant. There is no exact definition for a moral dilemma, as it is related to
human emotions, and not all the emotions can be explained in words. People learn to solve and cope
with mental dilemmas over many years of experience but it is quite difficult for young kids, adolescents,
and teenagers to confront their emotions and come to terms with moral or ethical issues. Merely
reading or listening to moral stories does not make the task easy. To solve any mental dilemma, you
need decisiveness, good analytical ability, and self realization.

Parents can guide children when they are at home, but once the children go to school, they have to
handle their problems on their own. Also. as and how a child grows up, the nature of his/her doubts and
dilemmas also changes. Hence, let us discuss these scenarios with the help of a few case studies.

Moral Dilemma: Human rights

Tony, Beth and Claire have been best friends since high school. Tony and Beth went to college and

they are now enganged. Beth´s mother falls ill and she has to take care of her. Tony spends a lot of

time by his self because of the absence of Beth. Then, Tony and Claire are having dinner and he tells

her that he has been cheating on Beth since a while. Makes Claire promise that she wont say anything

and that it will be their secret. After that, Claire and Beth are talking and Beth asks Claire if she knows

what is happening to Tony?

Problem: Claire promised Tony to keep his secret but at the same time she feels obligated to tell Beth.

Both are their best friends so she doesnt knows what to do.

Solution: Claire should tell Tony that he must tell the truth to Beth and solve things out between both.

If Claire tells Beth the truth, Tony will be disappointed of her and that will cause more tension on

everybody.

Moral Dilema: Family ethics

Elmer donated a pint of blood to his wife Doris needed during operation. Elmer and Doris subsequently

divorced. Several years after the divorce Elmer was in an accident and needed blood. His new wife,
Cora was of a different blood tye, and could not contribute blood. Doris still lived in the same area as

Elmer, and there she was capable to donate blood.

Question: Was Doris morally obligated to donate a pint of blood to Elmer?

-In this case Doris is morally obligated to help Elmer for many reasons. First, he donated blood to

Doris when she needed without doubting. Then, he was his husband and in at some point of Doris life

Elmer was the most important person in the world. Also, he is depending of her blood to survive. They

can be separated because of many motives but this is not an excuse to reject helping Elmer.

Your family is vacationing alone on a private stretch of beach with no lifeguard. Your daughter
and your niece, both 7, are best friends and eager to get into the water. You caution them to wait
until the water calms some, but they defy you and sneak in anyway. You soon hear screams of
distress and find them both caught in a strong current. You are the only swimmer strong enough
to save them, but you can only save one at a time. Your niece is a very poor swimmer and likely
won't make it much longer. Your daughter is a stronger swimmer, but only has a 50% chance of
holding on long enough for you to come back for her. Who do you save first? (Source: Listverse)

Save your daughter first; you know that your niece will probably die, but you can't bear to
lose your child.
Save your daughter first; you know that your niece will probably die, but you can't
bear to lose your child.
Save your niece first and hope that your daughter can hold on long enough for you to come
back for her.
Save your niece first and hope that your daughter can hold on long enough for you to
come back for her.

The Expensive Treatment

Your partner is dying from a rare disease. Luckily a cure has recently been invented, by one druggist
who lives fairly close to you. This druggist is selling the cure for ten times the amount it cost him to
make it. You try to raise the money, but even borrowing from friends and taking a loan from the bank,
you can only raise half the amount. You go to the druggist and offer to pay him half now and half later,
but he refuses, saying that he invented the cure and is determined to make money off it. You beg him to
sell it cheaper as your partner will die before you can raise the full amount, but he still refuses.

You believe you could break into his store one night after he has gone home and steal the cure. This
would definitely save your partner, although you might be arrested for the crime.

What should you do?

You are a very skilled doctor with five dying patients, each of whom needs a different organ
in order to live. Unfortunately, there are no organs available to perform any of the
transplants. It just so happens that you have a sixth dying patient, suffering from a fatal
illness, who will die sooner than the other five if not treated. If this sixth patient dies, you
will be able to use his organs to save the five other patients. However, you have a medicine
you can give to this sixth patient that will cure his illness and he won’t die. Would you:

a: Wait for the patient to die and then harvest his organs or
b: Save the patient even though the other patients won’t get organs.

If you chose to administer the medicine, would you still do so even if the medicine will not
cure the patient, but, instead, delay his death to some short term future date or time after
the five patients will have died? Why?

You have witnessed a man rob a bank, but then, he did something completely unusual and
unexpected with the money. He donated it to an orphanage that was poor, run-down and
lacking in proper food, care, water and amenities. The sum of money would be a great
benefit to the orphanage, and the children’s lives would turn from poor to prosperous.

a: Call the police and report the robber, even though they would likely take the money
away from the orphanage, or
b: Do nothing and leave the robber and the orphans alone?

2. Do you abort your child with Down's Syndrome?

You’re four months pregnant and an ultrasound reveals your baby will have
Down’s Syndrome. Do you keep the baby or abort?

An argument for keeping the baby: To abort a Down’s child is to kill a future
person who likely can live a decent life. And from a selfish perspective, Down’s
children often are unusually sweet.

An argument for aborting the baby: Having a Down’s child will dramatically
impede your career and personal life. And if you abort that child, you can choose
to have another, who likely will be normal. In either case, you’re bringing one
child into the world. Why not bring one who will live a more enriched life and
allow you to live yours?

So what would you do?

4. Is a salesperson ethically obliged to reveal his product's core weakness?

You sell new Chevys. A prospect is deciding between a Chevy Cruze and a Mazda
3. S/he tells you that reliability is the #1 criterion in choosing the car. “I hate
getting into my car to go to work and then it won’t start. Or the vulnerability of
being on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck." S/he thinks the Chevy is
more reliable than the Mazda. You think s/he's wrong but aren’t sure. You’re
thinking of checking Consumer Reports and letting the customer know what you
find.

An argument for checking and reporting: If you do find that the Mazda is more
reliable, you’ll likely save the prospect much anxiety—S/he’ll buy the Mazda,
which s/he'll feel more confident in. And the car will, in fact, be less likely to
break down. Of course, you can cite any benefits the Chevy has over the Mazda.

An argument for not checking and reporting: It’s unrealistic to expect a

salesperson to do research that will likely eliminate the possibility of a sale. If
that would be the case, the Chevy salesperson probably will sell few cars. That
will both cut the dealer’s income and result in the salesperson getting fired and
being less likely to obtain another job to support the family. If in a subsequent
job interview, s/he is asked why s/he lost the job and says, “Because I keep doing
research for prospective customers that reveals that my company’s cars are
inferior,” s/he may never get hired for a sales job and have to train for a new
career. It is ethical for a salesperson to not do such research for the customer but
rather, listen to their needs and point out any relevant advantages the Chevy has
over the Mazda.

So what would you do? Would the customer’s gender, attractiveness, or age,
affect your decision?

Would your decision be different if the salespersons were pitching for

donations for a charity even though s/he suspects a competing charity does
more good with the money?

1. Liz was a 12 year old girl. Next month, she had to appear for her annual exam. Her father
told her that if she scored well in all the subjects, he would buy a cycle for her. Liz was
excited and studied really hard for the annual exams. But, she always scored less in
science. She studied hard for the science paper and went for the exam. The teacher
distributed the answer sheets and sat in one place. Liz started solving the paper but she
wasn't sure about her answer. She was tempted to look into her friend's answer sheet, as
 the teacher was not nearby. She thought that it's the only subject she is weak in, otherwise
she is sure to top in other subjects. So why not copy a little? She would also get the cycle
if she tops. Liz thought she could easily peep in to her friend's paper and she indeed did
so, and felt terribly guilty about this later. Nobody knew about this, except her.

2. Sarah and Samantha were best friends. Both of them had just turned 15 and had recently
joined high school. They were so close that they used to share every problem with each
other and used to take care of each other. After few days, a new boy, named John, joined
their high school. John was very cute and all the girls adored him. Samantha too had a
crush on him. Samantha was a little more talkative, and so, she soon became friends with
John. One day, Sarah noticed that John was flirting with Zoe. She wanted to tell this to
Samantha but wondered if she'd believe her. Samantha was so involved in John that she
was in no mood to listen to anything against him. Sarah thought if she said anything
about John, she would lose her friendship, but if she kept quiet, it wouldn't be any good
for her friend's future.

3. Mark was sure that he wanted to become an engineer. He was really studying hard so that
he could get an admission in the best university. He studied hard but somehow couldn't
score that well. He was very upset. After few days, Mark met one of his friends who told
him that if he gives him some money, he can arrange for an admission. Of course, Mark
didn't have money and he could not ask his father, as it wasn't legal. The next day, Mark's
father gave him some money to deposit in the bank. Mark thought that with this money
he can easily get an admission in the best college, and his career will be all set. He didn't
deposit the money in the bank, and neither did he give it to his friend. He was very
confused.

From the above three different examples you get a fair idea about the various types of
moral dilemmas students go through. Moral dilemmas involve a lot of mental conflict
between two choices, in which, choosing between what one desires and what society
dictates is right, is extremely difficult. In such situations, it is important for a student to
choose between the two unpleasant situations, and take the right decision.

With these insights on moral dilemmas for students, you know how complex and
subjective the issue is. But effectively solving these dilemmas certainly brings happiness.
As George Washington rightly said, "Happiness and moral duty are inseparably
connected.".

The transition to college is a major milestone that, for many students,

marks the change from childhood to adulthood. Students can no longer
rely on their parents or teachers to make decisions for them, and they
 may be forced to make their own ethical decisions for the first time.
Some ethical challenges have no right or wrong answer, while others are
characterized by a tempting "wrong" answer that can make the right
choice seem like a bad option.

The ethical choices you make reflect your character.

Throughout your education, you will grapple with many choices that test
personal values, beliefs and priorities. Ethical decision -making involves
using a set of principles to resolve dilemmas with moral implications.
Underlying most ethical theories is a commitment to personal integrity,
justice, fairness and concern for the common good.

Students: Tell us what ethical dilemmas you’ve faced in your life, whether at school, at
home, with friends, in a romantic relationship or while working or pursuing a hobby.
What did you do about them? Why?