Chapter 4: Moral Dilemma

Before dealing with dilemma, I would like to make a note here, because for sure sooner or later one among
you, if not all, will be confused between dilemma and problem. So before you'll get to this point, I would like
to resolve that possible problem/confusion already.
The difference between dilemma and problem is that dilemma is applied in a circumstance or context in
which a choice must be made between two or more alternatives or options that seems equally undesirable
or adverse result, however problem is a difficulty encountered by a person that needs to be resolved or
dealt with. In other words, in problem you need to find a solution or answer that would resolve the existing
difficulty at hand.

I- Understanding the term Dilemma

First of all, let us define the term dilemma before we discuss the nature and dynamics or 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, in other words none of the options is considerable. As we can see, the key
here is that the person has a choice to make, however all of the choices are against to his desire or wants.
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. Another example, a student
may cheat during examination which he/she knows that it is bad and if be caught he/she may be scolded
and will be embarrass, or he/she may passed his/her paper without answer that would result to a failing
grade.
It must be noted, however, that if a person is in a difficult situation but he/she 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 person
is just experiencing a problematic or distressful situation. Thus, the most ological thing to do for that person
is to look for alternatives or solutions to address the problem.
Dilemma is at hand when it involves human actions which have moral implications, and this is what we
called ethical or moral dilemmas.

Moral dilemmas, therefore, are situations where persons, or the moral agents are forced to choose
between two or more conflicting options, neither of which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable
manner. In other words the options at hand or the available choices could not give a morally satisfying
solution. Consider this example:
Angelina is a deeply religious person; hence, she considers killing human being is absolutely wrong.
Unfortunately, the doctor found out that she is having an ectopic pregnancy. As we all know, an ectopic
pregnancy is a type of pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus, most commonly in the fallopian tube. In
other words, in ectopic pregnancy, the fetus does not develop in the uterus. Now, if this happened, the
development of the fetus will definitely endanger the mother. So looking at Angelina's situation that if she
continues with her ectopic pregnancy, then there is a big possibility that she will die. According to the
experts, the best way to save Angelina's life is to extract or shall we say abort the fetus, which necessarily
implies killing the fetus. If we do not abort the fetus, then Angelina as well as the fetus, will be in great
danger and eventually will die.
In the above example of a moral dilemma, Angelina is faced with two conflicting options, namely, either she
resorts to abortion, which will save her life but at the same time jeopardized her moral integrity or does not
resort to abortion but endangers her life as well as the fetus. Indeed, Angelina is faced with great moral
dilemma in here.

There are three conditions set by the moralists which must be present in a situations to be considered
moral dilemmas.
1. The person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about which course of actions is
best. Here, the moral agent must choose the best option and act accordingly.
In the case of the example above, Angelina may opt to abort the fetus as the best course of action.
1. There must be different course of actions 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.
2. No matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always compromised.

This means that, there is no perfect solution to the problem. Following this reason, we say that in moral
dilemmas, the moral agent is seemed fated to commit something wrong.
Which implies that he/she is bound to fail morally, because in one way or another he/she will fail to do
something which he/she ought to do. In other words, by choosing one of the possible requirements or
options, the person also fails on others.

II - TYPES OF MORAL DILEMMAS

There are several types of moral dilemmas, but the most common of them are categorized into the
following:
1. Epistemic and ontological, 2. Self-imposed and world-imposed,
3. Obligation dilemma and prohibition, and 4. Single and multi-person.

1. Epistemic and ontological dilemmas

A - EPISTEMIC MORAL DILEMMAS
This type of dilemma occurs in a situations wherein two or more moral requirements conflict with each other
and that the moral agent could hardly knows which of the conflicting moral requirements takes precedence
over the other.
In other words, the moral agent here does not know which option is morally right or wrong.
For instance, I ought to honor my promised to my wife to have an early dinner to celebrate our anniversary,
but on my way home, I pass by a sick old man that needs help and be brought to the hospital. In an actual
situation, we post a question, where does my actual duty lies now?
We cannot deny that there are conflicting duties here, but we need to note that we want a fuller knowledge
of the situation: Is an important purpose being served by having an early dinner in celebrating our
anniversary when I get home? How serious is the condition of the sick old man? Indeed, I could hardly
decide which option is morally right in this situation.
However, one option must be better than the other; only, it needs fuller knowledge of the situation-thus the
term "epistemic" moral dilemmas.

B - ONTOLOGICAL MORAL DILEMMAS

This type of dilemma involve a situations wherein two or more moral requirements conflict with each other,
yet neither of these conflicting moral requirements overrides each other. This is not to say that the moral
agent does not know which moral requirement is stronger than the other. Ine point is that neither of the
moral requirements is stronger than the other; hence the moral agent can hardly choose between the
conflicting moral requirements. For instance, a military doctor is attending to the needs of the wounded
soldiers in the middle of the war.
Unfortunately, two soldiers urgently need a blood transfusion. However, only one bag of blood is available
at the moment. To whom shall the doctor administer the blood transfusion? For sure, we could not tell
whether administering a blood transfusion to soldier A is more moral than administering a blood transfusion
to soldier B, and vice versa.

2. Self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas

A. SELF-IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA
This type of dilemma is caused by the moral agent's wrongdoings. For example, Peter is running for the
position of the town mayor. During the campaign period, he promised the indigenous peoples in his
community to protect their virgin forest just to gain their votes, but at the same time, he seeks financial
support from a mining corporation. Fortunately, Peter won the elections, yet he is faced with the dilemma of
fulfilling his promised to the indigenous people and at the same time allows the mining corporation to
destroy their forest.
Indeed, through his own actions, Peter is created a situation in which it is impossible for him to discharge
from both obligations.

B. WORLD-IMPOSED MORAL DILEMMA

This type of dilemma is applied to a certain events in the world that placed the agent in a situation of moral
conflict. William Styron's famous Sophie's Choice is a classic example. " Sophie Zawistowska has been
asked to choose which of her two children, Eva or Jan, will be sent to the gas chamber in Auschwitz. An SS
doctor, Fritz Jemand von Niemand, will grant a dispensation to only one of Sophie's children. If she does
not choose which one should live, Dr. von Niemand will send both to their death. Sophie chooses her
daughter Eva to go to the gas chamber. Her son, Jan is sent to the Children's Camp."

3. Obligation dilemma and prohibition dilemmas

• OBLIGATION DILEMMAS are situations in which more than one feasible action is obligatory,

• PROHIBITION DILEMMAS are involve cases in which all feasible actions are forbidden. The
famous "Sartre's Student" is a classic example. It reads:Sartre uses the anecdote of a former student's
moral dilemma during World War I to illustrate both the limits of making decisions based on a defined moral
code and the erroneousness of blaming "passions" for people's actions. The French student's brother was
killed in 1940 by the Germans, but his father nonetheless later abandoned the family to collaborate with the
Germans. The student had to choose between staying in France with his mother, who "found her only
comfort in him", and leaving to fight with the free French against the German occupation. After realizing he
was caught between moral principles- family and nation, or the obligation to care for his mother and the
obligation to avenge his brother's death-he came to Sartre for advice. The philosopher told his student that
there was no correct or incorrect decision. Neither moral codes nor the strength of his affections for one or
the other party could determine what to do; rather, the student had to "invent" his own solution to the
problem.The famous Sophie's Choice, as mentioned above, is a classic example of prohibition dilemmas.

4. Single and multi-person dilemmas

• SINGLE AGENT DILEMMA, in this form of dilemma the moral agent is compelled to act on two or
more equally the same moral options but he/she cannot choose both. For instance, a medical doctor found
out that his/her patient has HIV. For sure, the medical doctor may experience tension between the legal
requirement to report the case and the desire to respect confidentiality, although the medical code of ethics
acknowledges our obligation to follow legal requirements and to intervene to protect the vulnerable.

• MULTI-PERSON DILEMMA, The multi-person dilemma occurs in situations that involve several
persons like a family, an organization, or a community who is expected to come up with consensual
decision on a moral issue at hand. A family may be torn between choosing to terminate or prolong the life
of a family member. An organization may have to choose between complying with the wage law by cutting
its workforce or by retaining its current workforce by paying them below the required minimum wage. The
multi-person dilemma requires more than choosing what is right, it also entails that the persons involved
reached a general consensus. In such a manner, the moral obligation to do what is right becomes more
complicated. On the one hand, the integrity of the decision ought to be defended on moral grounds. On the
other hand, the decision must also prevent the organization from breaking apart".

III - Resolving Moral dilemmas

The largest struggle in trying to resolve a moral dilemma is recognizing that whatever action you take, it will
not be completely ethical. It will just be the most ethical in comparison with the other
Philosophers have attempted to find solutions to moral dilemmas for centuries. They have discussed and
attempted to find the best ways to resolve them, in order to help us live better and reduce the suffering that
we may face.
Here are a few pieces of advice to help resolve moral dilemmas: advise
Be reasonable, not emotional
We have a greater chance of overcoming these struggles if we logically work through them.
We just need to determine and analyse the aspects of the dilemma in order to better conclude what action
is the greatest good. Remember this class, that Emotion can cloud your judgment of
what may be the best ethical outcome. So whatever problems and dilemmas you face always be
reasonable. Your emotion won't help you grow to become a better you (person).

Choose the greater good or the lesser evil

Perhaps the common soundest piece of advice is to conclude which choice allows for the greatest good, or
the less evil. However, this isn't simple and will take much consideration.
However, if there is an action that is on balance morally superior, despite other personal or social
implications, then it is the best action to take.
Is there an alternative?

Analysing the situation in greater detail may reveal alternative options that were not immediately obvious. Is
there an alternative choice or action that will resolve the dilemma better than the ones you have in front of
you? Take time to recognise if there is.
What are the consequences?

Weighing up the positive and negative consequences of each action will give a clearer picture of the best
choice to make. Each option may have a number of negative consequences, but if one has more positive
consequences and less negative, then it is on the balance the right action to take.

What would a good person's do?

Sometimes a useful thing to do would be to just simply ask: What would a good person do?
Imagine yourself as a truly virtuous and moral character and determine what you would do, regardless of
your own character and the personal or social factors that may influence by your decision.

Resolving moral dilemmas will not be easy

Never think too much about a dilemma. Answers come to a relaxed mind; time allows things to fall into
place; a calm attitude yields the best results.
The dilemmas that we face will be complex and arduous. The advice given by philosophers will aid us when
trying to resolve them.
However, it is not as straightforward as using one piece of advice to solve a single dilemma. Often, it will be
a combination of many of them that will give us the best chance of taking the correct action.
Most of the time, all of them will be relevant in every dilemma that we face.

But there is one thing that all of these methods of resolutions promote: the importance of reason. Moral
Gilemmas can seem so over-facing that our emotions can prevent us from making an informed decision.
Or, they can misguide us into making the wrong decision.
Taking a step back to dissect and analyse the dilemma will allow for a better perspective on the situation.
This allows you to see more clearly the consequence of each action, the good and evil of each action and
any alternatives that may present themselves.
However, perhaps the best piece of advice is just recognising that resolving moral dilemmas will not be
easy. It will be difficult and may cause us deep anguish as we wrestle between conflicting moral options.
You are better equipped to face these dilemmas if you are aware of it. Thinking reasonably, and not being
overwhelmed by the dilemma, will be a good start as well.