Ethics 2 Answer
ACTIVITY:
Read: The Pregnant Lady and the Dynamite, then answer the questions given:
A pregnant woman leading a group of five people out a cave on a coast is stuck in the
mouth of that cave. In a short time, high tide will be upon them and unless she is unstuck, they
will be drowned except the woman whose head is out of the cave. Fortunately, (or
unfortunately), someone has with him a stick of dynamite. There seems no way to get the
pregnant woman loose without using the dynamite which will inevitably kill her; but if they do not
use it everyone else will drown. What should they do?
QUESTIONS:
1. What would you do if you were one of the men? Explain why you decided to act
that way?
When a group is stuck in a cave and must battle the tide, they have two options. The
first alternative is to place the pregnant woman's head out through the opening in the
cavernous entrance to prevent it from sinking. The second alternative is to blow holes in the
cave walls with dynamite in order to free the entire group, but doing so runs the risk of killing
the pregnant woman who is the group leader and her fetus.
In my opinion the choice that must be selected is the second one for various
reasons. The second option, using dynamite, can save more than just one life, which is the
first justification. The second reason, the explosive option not only rescues but also frees
and expels the entire group from the cave. In contrast to the first option, which would have
required the pregnant women who survived to keep attempting to exit the cave alone,
decreasing the likelihood that they would be safe, in addition to only saving one person's life
and belongings without removing her from the cave and also killing other people, mother
and child.
A mother's first priority is her children. This situation, nevertheless, is different from a
catastrophe evacuation since it is a survival scenario where all of the imprisoned people
must carefully examine what effects, ramifications, and results are formed from the
decisions made in order to be more beneficial and rescue many parties.
2. The situation or the experience you went through is a moral dilemma. What them
is a moral dilemma?
A moral dilemma is an instance or circumstance that calls into doubt a person's
morals temporarily. After the event, the person can return to those principles, but during the
experience, they must pick one moral over another.
The most frequent moral dilemma that is raised contrasts the morality of murder with
the morality of salvation and asks, "Is it okay to save many people if I kill one person?" The
response will vary in this situation depending on the person's personality and culture, which
will work together to give one moral a larger emphasis than another.
3. Is finding yourself in a moral dilemma, a moral experience? Why or why not?
Depends on the scenario behind the moral dilemma depending on this it could
be an immoral experience example being you have to choose between someone's
favorite ice cream and the more affordable option, for a moral dilemma that is still
within the confines of morality or the scenario could be made hypothetically much
darker which in turn would make it an immoral experience it can be made immoral
because of a lack of options or threats of repercussion inevitably the morality of the
situation will depend on the culmination of its working parts you could be tactful
enough to make an immoral scenario one of moral conduct depending on your reaction
but regardless it is considered immoral that you would have to do that in the first place.
1. Are these cases examples of moral dilemma? Defend your answer.
a) Anne is the project manager of a large industrial project in a developing country,
run by a Nordic company. On a crucial day for the project, the electricity is
suddenly gone from the entire plant. Large quantities of cement are about to
congeal in the blenders, and it is crucial to activate them again, quickly. More than
a thousand employees are unable to do their work, Anne contacts the local
authorities to solve the problem. A bureaucrat turns up at the plant and explains
that he can get the electricity back on again very quickly, on the condition that he
can bring ten of the company’s PCs back to the town hall. There is a desperate
shortage of PCs there, and the bureaucrat and his colleagues are therefore unable
to do provide adequate service to the local community.
Yes. Not only in the working world but also in student life, moral
conundrums like Anne's might arise. Moreover, it may take place in both
public and private organizations, families, neighborhoods, and
civilizations, as well as on a personal level. Sometimes, when things are
hectic, we don't realize that we are already facing a moral dilemma and
miss the moral implications of our decisions. Being able to recognize
moral quandaries and come up with responsible solutions for them
requires an understanding of their nature.
b) The Deliberate Infection
Ken is a doctor. One of his patients, whom he has diagnosed as HIV positive, is
about to receive a blood transfusion prior to being released from the hospital. He
has told Ken, in the confidence of their doctor-patient relationship, that after he
gets his transfusion, and his medicine from Ken, he intends to infect as many
people as possible with HIV starting that evening.
Certainly, the Deliberate Infection case serves as an illustration of a moral
conundrum. The circumstance raises a challenging moral dilemma with
opposing obligations and values. In addition to having a moral
responsibility to prevent the HIV-positive patient from spreading the
disease to others, Ken, the doctor, is also obligated by his duty of secrecy
to the patient. The duty to protect the public health and the ideals of
confidentiality are in tension in this instance.
c) The Unfaithful Wife
You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the scene of an
accident. When you arrive you see that the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the
worst you rush over, only to see she is trapped in her car with another man. He is
obviously her lover, with whom she’s been having an affair.
You reel back in shock devastated by what you have just found out. As you step
back, the wreck in front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously
hurt and she needs attention straight away. Even if she gets immediate attention
there’s a very high chance she’ll die. You look at the seat next to her and see her
lover. He’s bleeding heavily from a wound in the neck and you need to stem the
flow of blood immediately.
If you attend to your wife, her lover will bleed to death, and you may not be able to
save her anyway. If you work on the lover, you can save his life, but your wife will
definitely die.
d) You are an English teacher at a high school. One of your pupils is a very bright
and gifted girl whom you have always enjoyed teaching. She has always achieved
A grades throughout her school years, and is now in her final year and getting
ready to graduate. Unfortunately, she has been very ill this term, and missed
several weeks of schooling. She has just turned in a report which is worth 40% of
her final grade, but you realize that she did not write it herself – she has copied a
report found online and tried to pass it off as her own work.
If you report her plagiarisation to the school authorities, it will be entered
on her permanent record and she will no longer be eligible to attend the
prestigious university that she has dreamed of attending all through high
school. If you refuse to accept the report, her final mark will be very poor
and may harm her changes of being chosen for this university. If you mark
the paper as though you believed it was her own work, she will do very
well, and stand every chance of getting her desired university place.
What should you do?
A dilemma is a situation when a person must decide between two or more
actions that are both logical choices. Each choice has a valid basis.
Sometimes, these problems entail making a morally problematic option
that results in a beneficial end, or vice versa. In this example, the student
who received the plagiarized paper has already achieved great scores
during her scholastic career. Nevertheless, she missed several weeks of
school owing to sickness, so she submitted the plagiarized paper. She
acted in an improper manner. She had never, however, earned a bad
reputation at school before. As a teacher, I don't want to stand in the way
of her bright future, so I've chosen to accept her work even though it is
immoral.
2. Are these moral dilemmas?
- Taking credit for other’s work in order to get promoted
- Manufacturing and distributing fake drugs for profit
- Offering a client, a worse product for bigger profit
- Utilizing inside knowledge for your own profit
Yes, because It transgresses the ethical principle of justice. Your moral
principles are put to the test, which creates an ethical quandary. Honesty,
refraining from and opposing violence, concern for others, respect for
others' privacy, helping those in need, and not injuring others—whether
they be people or animals—are some examples of the moral tenets.
3. Compose your own moral dilemma. (to be answer by you)
4. REFLECTION:
What is a moral dilemma that you have experienced directly or vicariously? Are you
happy with how you addressed the moral dilemma you went through? Or do you agree
with how the moral dilemma that you read was addressed? Write your reflections.
ACTIVITY:
1. Read the following dilemmas:
1) The mission of Catholic School A 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) Heinz’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 the
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 the Heinz
could afford.
3) A principal ought to welcome and encourage parents and community
participation in school affairs. Based on her experience, parents and
community 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 things on time.
Answer the following questions:
1. Among the 3 dilemmas, which is an example of an individual dilemma?
Organizational dilemma? Structural dilemma?
Individual Dilemma
Heinz’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 the
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 the Heinz could
afford.
Organizational dilemma
The mission of Catholic School A 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.
Structural dilemma
A principal ought to welcome and encourage parents and community
participation in school affairs. Based on her experience, parents and community
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 things
on time.
2. How do the 3 dilemmas differ?
Individual Dilemma conflict arises when a person is forced to make a decision
between two of their most significant ideals, such as between familial obligations
and romantic love.
Organizational Dilemma are those that institutions, businesses, or
organizations face during the decision-making process. At this level, these
problems typically touch multiple people, who may be either internal group
members or external stakeholders.
Structural Dilemma a network of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms,
such as universal health care, juvenile legislation, and immigration, are affected by
structural dilemmas. This kind of conundrum might have an impact on a
neighborhood or possibly the entire society.
APPLICATION:
1. Give true-to-life examples of structural dilemmas that illustrate:
a. Excessive autonomy versus excessive interdependence
b. Flexibility versus strict adherence to rules
c. Gap versus overlap
d. Differentiation versus integration
e. Centralized versus decentralized decision-making
f. Sovereignty of nations versus world peace and order
Researching on the following events that illustrate structural dilemma may be of
help:
a. Mamasapano Encounter – SAF 44 – Why were 44 killed? Based on reports,
what was said to be the cause of the death of 44?
b. Reason behind the bombing of the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
c. Red tape in government offices
d. Creation of autonomous regions like ARMM
2. “Man is not made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is made for man.” How can this
guide you when face with a structural dilemma on strict adherence to rules versus
flexibility?
REFLECTION:
What structural dilemma have you experienced? How did you deal with it? Are you happy
with how you dealt with it?
