SOUTHERN MINDANAO COLLEGES

Pagadian City

TELL THE TRUTH OR PRETEND THAT I KNEW NOTHING

MORAL DELIMMA TITLE

In Partial Fulfillment of the course Requirement in

ETHICS 106

2ND Semester Academic Year 2022-2023

Submitted to:

Mc Jero Acuna

Submitted by:

Hazel Jane Vergara Hisoler

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my subject teacher, Mc Jero Acuňa who gave
me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic Moral Dilemma, also helped me in doing
a lot of research and I came to know about so many new things.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my husband for always there to help me doing this project done
and also to my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch[1] of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".[2] The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters
of value; these fields comprise the branch of philosophy called axiology.[3]
Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right
and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.[4] As a field of intellectual inquiry, moral philosophy is related to the
fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory. The English word ethics is derived from the Ancient
Greek word ēthikós (ἠθικός), meaning "relating to one's character", which itself comes from the root
word êthos (ἦθος) meaning "character, moral nature".[5] This word was transferred into Latin as ethica and then into
French as éthique, from which it was transferred into English.
Rushworth Kidder states that "standard definitions of ethics have typically included such phrases as 'the science of
the ideal human character' or 'the science of moral duty'".[6] Richard William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as "a
set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures".
[7]
 The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word "ethics" is "commonly used interchangeably with
'morality' ... and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group or
individual."[8] Paul and Elder state that most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social
conventions, religious beliefs, the law, and do not treat ethics as a stand-alone concept.[9]
The word ethics in English refers to several things.[10] It can refer to philosophical ethics or moral philosophy—a
project that attempts to use reason to answer various kinds of ethical questions. As the English moral
philosopher Bernard Williams writes, attempting to explain moral philosophy: "What makes an inquiry a
philosophical one is reflective generality and a style of argument that claims to be rationally persuasive."[11] Williams
describes the content of this area of inquiry as addressing the very broad question, "how one should live".[12] Ethics
can also refer to a common human ability to think about ethical problems that is not particular to philosophy.
As bioethicist Larry Churchill has written: "Ethics, understood as the capacity to think critically about moral values
and direct our actions in terms of such values, is a generic human capacity."[13]

In philosophy, ethical dilemmas, also called ethical paradoxes or moral dilemmas, are situations in which an

agent stands under two (or more) conflicting moral requirements, none of which overrides the other. A closely
related definition characterizes ethical dilemmas as situations in which every available choice is wrong. The term is
also used in a wider sense in everyday language to refer to ethical conflicts that may be resolvable, to
psychologically difficult choices or to other types of difficult ethical problems. This article is about ethical dilemmas in
the strict philosophical sense, often referred to as genuine ethical dilemmas. Various examples have been proposed
but there is disagreement as to whether these constitute genuine or merely apparent ethical dilemmas. The central
debate around ethical dilemmas concerns the question of whether there are any. Defenders often point to apparent
examples while their opponents usually aim to show their existence contradicts very fundamental ethical principles.
Ethical dilemmas come in various types. An important distinction concerns the difference between epistemic
dilemmas, which give a possibly false impression to the agent of an unresolvable conflict, and actual or ontological
dilemmas. There is broad agreement that there are epistemic dilemmas but the main interest in ethical dilemmas
takes place on the ontological level. Traditionally, philosophers held that it is a requirement for good moral theories
to be free from ethical dilemmas. But this assumption has been questioned in contemporary philosophy
 TELL THE TRUTH OR PRETEND THAT I KNEW NOTHING

MORAL DILEMMA TITLE

Tell the truth or pretend that I knew nothing

I once had two friends Mark Ivan and Spincer. Although I was a friend to both of them, the two did not know each other.
After years of searching for the right girlfriend, Mark Ivan succeeded in getting into a relationship with a lady named
Mary Faith. Mary Faith had all the qualities that Mark Ivan was looking for in a lifelong girlfriend. After a few months I
saw Mark Ivan and Mary Faith dating in the restaurant, and he was convinced that he was comfortable enough to enter
a long-term relationship with Mary Faith. Unknown to Mark Ivan, I observed him and Mary Faith was the wife of Spincer.
The revelation came as a shock to me as I contemplated whether to tell Mark Ivan that Mary Faith is married. After a few
days, I received a call from Spincer. Spincer suspected that his wife Mary Faith was having an affair and asked me if I
knew anything about the affair since we shared many friends and contact. To calm Spincer down, I told him I would
investigate and alert him in case of anything. Should I tell to Spincer about what I saw? Or pretend that I knew nothing?

RESOLVING USING THE 7 STEPS MORAL REASONING MODEL:

1. STATE THE PROBLEM. GATHER THE FACTS.

- The problem in this story is about should I tell to Spincer about what I saw or pretend that I knew nothing?
But the truth is I saw Mark Ivan and Mary Faith is having and affair. I’m stuck between telling the truth to
Spincer or pretend that I knew nothing. Which one of them should I do?

2. CHECK THE FACTS. DETERMINE THE ETHICAL ISSUE.

- The facts here is that I saw Mark Ivan and Mary Faith dating in the restaurant. But I can’t tell to Spincer what
I really saw because I did it what to hurt Spincer and breaking up with Mary Faith, and having an argue with
Mark Ivan.
 - The ethical issue here in this situation is that I will have to make a decision between telling the truth to
Spincer or pretent nothing knew about Mark Ivan and Mary Faith affair.

3. IDENTIFY THE STAKEHOLDERS/ AFFECTED PARTIES.

Primary stakeholders:
1. Me – the one who is going to make the decision if I tell the truth.

Secondary stakeholders:

1. Spincer,Mark Ivan and Mary Faith – they are affected in the decision that I am going to make.

4. LIST DOWN THE ALTERNATIVE. DEVELOP A LIST OF OPTION.

Option A: I will choose tell to Spincer the truth.

Option B: I will choose to pretend that I knew nothing about Mark Ivan and Mary Faith Affair.

5. COMPARE THE ALTERNATIVES WITH PRINCIPLES. TEST THE OPTION.

Option A: Choosing to tell the truth to Spincer because he not deserve to cheated, and he deserve to know the
truth about Mark Ivan and Mary Faith Affairs. And he have right to make a decision between there relationship.

Option B: If I will choose to tell the truth to Spincer about Mark Ivan and Mary Faith Affairs. There’s a chance
that Spincer will hurt and anger with Mark Ivan and Mary Faith.

6. ASSESS THE CONSEQUENCES. MAKE A CHOICE.

Choosing Option A: If I will choice to say the truth what I saw there is a chance that Spincer will breaking up with
Mary Faith and Anger to Mark Ivan.

Choosing Option B: If I will choice to pretend nothing to knew about Mark Ivan and Mary Faith Affairs. Spincer is
always suspected about her wife.

7. MAKE A DECISION.

In making the decision at the end, I choose to tell Spincer what I saw in the restaurant about Mark Ivan and
Mary Faith. And to Spincer know what is really truth about his wife.

The hardest part of making a decision is what consequence will come after this.
Will I be happy after this? Or still sad after this? But the end I choose to tell the truth. And I fell sad because I’m
the one that need to make a decision between my two friends.