LESSON 2:

DILEMMA &
MORAL ACT
 Let’s Warm-Up!
Thought Provoking Questions to
Ask …
1. Would you rather be a boss or
employee?
2. Would you rather have friends that
were fun to be with but not very
nice?
 WHAT IS MORAL
DILEMMA?
• MORAL DILEMMAS are situations in which there
is a choice to be made between two options,
neither of which resolves the situation in an
ethically acceptable fashion. In such cases,
societal and personal ethical guidelines can
provide no satisfactory outcome for the chooser.
• or situations in which the decision-maker must
consider two or more moral values or duties but
can only honor one of them; thus, the individual
will violate at least one important moral concern,
regardless of the decision.
THREE LEVELS
OF MORAL
DILEMMA
INDIVIDUAL
DILEMMA
ORGANIZATION
AL DILEMMA
STRUCTURAL
DILEMMA
 INDIVIDUAL
DILEMMA
 Organizations and businesses are
run by people. Therefore, the ethical
standards of these individuals are an
important consideration. Because
individuals can have different set of
ethical standards, this can lead to
tensions putting them in a situation
called moral dilemma.
 Factors such as peer pressure,
personal financial position and socio-
economic status may influence an
individual’s ethical standards
ORGANIZATIO
NAL DILEMMA
At a company, corporate or
organizational level, ethical standards
are embedded in the policies and
procedures of the organization and form
an important foundation on which the
organization is built.
There can be a gap between the
company/organization policy on ethical
standards and the conduct of those
leaders in-charge of running the
organization, which can present an
ethical challenge for some employees
STRUCTURA
L DILEMMA
 Factors such as political pressures,
economic conditions, societal
attitudes to certain businesses, and
even business regulation can
influence a system’s operating
standards and policies.
 Leaders must be aware of how
these pressure affect operations,
relationships, and how they may
impact people locally, nationally or
internationally.
FREEDOM AS THE FOUNDATION
FOR MORAL ACT
MORALITY OF HUMAN ACTS
Human act – one that proceeds from the deliberate free will of man. It is
an act that is deliberately and knowingly performed by one having the use
of reason. Therefore, both intellect and will are in play. It is an act proper
to man as man.

Act of man – one that is not dependent upon intellect and free will. It is
done by a human person but is not proper to him as a person, but it does
stem from those faculties which are peculiar to man, namely intellect and
free will. In plain language, an act of man is essentially an animal act.
For an act to be
considered a human act,
it must possess the
following essential
 It must be performed by a conscious agent who
attributes: is aware of what he is doing and of its
consequences.
 It must be performed by an agent who is acting
freely, that is by his own volition and power.
 It must be performed by an agent who decides
willfully to perform the act
ELEMENTS OF DETERMINING
MORALITY
 The act itself – in order to judge the morality of human act, we must
consider the act itself. Moral judgment must be based not only on the
physical aspect of an act but also on its moral aspect. If a man tells a lie,
the moralist must base his judgment not on the physical act of uttering
words but rather on the telling of an untruth.
 Purpose – it is the reason for which an act is performed, or the intention
of the agent. It should be observed that the purpose will not always
change the morality of an act because some acts are intrinsically wrong
(evil by their nature).
 Circumstances - are those factors, distinct from the act itself and from
the purpose, which may affect the morality of the act. Circumstances alter
cases. Any careful moral judgment will weigh the circumstances
PRINCIPLES FOR JUDGING
MORALITY
 An act is morally good if the act itself, the purpose and the circumstance
are substantially good.
 If an act itself is intrinsically evil (evil by its very nature), the act is not
morally allowable regardless of purpose or circumstances.

 If an act is morally good or at least indifferent, its morality will be judged by

the purpose or circumstances.

 Circumstances may create, mitigate, or aggravate sin. They may change

an indifferent act into one that is morally sinful.

 If all three moral elements (the act, purpose, and circumstances) are good,
the act is good. If any one element is evil, the act is evil.
 CONDITIONS AFFECTING
MORALITY
1. Ignorance – lack of knowledge in
a person capable of knowing. In
some cases, we are responsible
for knowledge, in other cases we
are not; in other words, there are
different types of ignorance.
 CONDITIONS AFFECTING
MORALITY
 Ignorance of the law – lack of knowledge that a law exists.
 Ignorance of the fact – lack of realization that one is violating a law.
 Vincible ignorance – it implies culpable (responsible for wrong or error) negligence. The
subject could know and ought to know.
 Simple Vincible ignorance – is present when one makes some, but not sufficient, effort to
dispel (get rid of) his ignorance.
 Crass Vincible ignorance – is what results from a mere lack of effort.
 Affected Vincible ignorance – deliberately Fostered bring order to avoid any
obligation that knowledge might to light.
 Invincible ignorance - which cannot be dispelled. This situation may exist either because
the individual is unable to secure adequate information, even after a reasonable effort, or
because he simply does not know that there is any problem- in other words, he is ignorant of
his ignorance. The person cannot be expected to take steps to enlighten himself because
he is unaware that he needs any enlightenment.
2. Fear – an agitation or disturbance of mind resulting from some present or
imminent danger. It is one of the emotions.

Several Types of Fear:

 Light fear – fear in which the evil threatening is
either present-but-slight or grave-but-remote.
 Grave fear –present when the evil threatening is
considered as serious.
 Intrinsic grave fear – agitation of the mind which
arises because of a disposition within one’s own
mind or body. 
 Extrinsic fear – agitation of the mind which arises
from something outside oneself.
 Moral Principle concerning fear- “Fear
diminishes the voluntary nature of an act”
3. Concupiscence – the rebellion of passion against reason; or tendency of human nature toward
evil. Passion may be defined as the sense appetites of human nature reaching out toward their
objects. Under this heading wild come love, hatred, joy, grief, desire, hope, courage, fear and anger.

Concupiscence may be divided into

two types;
• Antecedent - precedes an act of the will
and is not willfully stimulated, such a
sudden anger.
• Consequent -stimulated by the will, such
as anger deliberately fostered.
Moral Principles Concerning
concupiscence
 Antecedent concupiscence – lessens the voluntary nature of
human acts and lessens the degree of moral responsibility.
 Consequent concupiscence- does not lessen moral
responsibility; rather a person acting with consequent
concupiscence is completely responsible.
4. Violence –an external force applied by someone on another in order to compel him to perform an
action against his will. In cases where the victim gives complete resistance, the violence is classified
as perfect violence. However, if the victim offers insufficient resistance, the violence is classified as
imperfect violence.
 Perfect violence- complete resistance is given maybe
either physically or morally perfect. Morally perfect
violence is that in which all powers of resistance that
should be used are employed.
 Imperfect violence –some resistance is shown but not
as much as should be
 Moral Principle concerning violence; Perfect
violence – that which is done from perfect violence
is entirely involuntary, and so in such cases. There
is no moral responsibility.
 Imperfect violence – done under the influence of
imperfect violence is less voluntary, and so the
moral responsibility is lessened but not taken away
completely.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF HUMAN
FREEDOM IN MORALITY?
• Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants
without hindrance or restraint. Every ship must be well run on its
own, but each must also coordinate with all the others so that they
avoid collisions and stay in formation. Finally, the fleet must be set
on a destination, which constitutes the purpose of their journey. This
is a helpful way to think about morality regarding self, others, and
our ultimate end.
Personal Morality
• The personal aspect of morality which might more properly be called
ethics. It is about the cultivation of virtue: the development of character
traits so that choosing the good becomes a matter of habit.

• There is no virtue in being temperate when you are being forced not to
indulge. There is no virtue in being charitable when someone is forcing you
to give up what is yours. Virtue can be guided by cultural traditions and
social institutions, but it cannot be-coerced. A virtuous man must also be a
free man.

• Thus, freedom is essential to a genuinely good human life at all the levels
of morality.