LESSON 3: MORAL
DILEMMA
• Decision making problem between two
possible moral imperatives, neither of
which is unambiguously acceptable or
preferable.
• Situation where a person has the moral
obligation to choose between two
options both based on moral standards,
but he/she cannot choose both, and
choosing one means violating the other.
MORAL DILEMMA IN THE
ORGANIZATION
1. Senior leaders fail to “walk the talk” – they are guilty of
modeling inappropriate behaviors.
2. Leaders often have an irrational sense of entitlement, feeling
“I should be allowed to do this,” or “I deserve this”.
3. Individuals may begin cutting corners due to misplaced
incentives. When an organization begins rewarding the wrong
things, this can lead to cutting corners on safety, quality etc.
4. Individuals may also feel the need to be obedient to authority,
even when they are being asked to do something they feel is
wrong.
5. Individuals also have need for closure, which can lead to
conflict avoidance.
6. Defensive “logic” is prevalent. This manifests as “ everyone is
doing it, so why not me?” or “why should I stick my neck out?”
• In a state of emergency,
necessity demands no
moral law. You have to
decide based on your best
judgement or choose
based on the principle of
lesser evil or greater good
or urgency.
WHAT TO DO WHEN
FACED WITH A
MORAL DILEMMA?
SAMPLE MORAL DILEMMA
The pregnant Lady and the Dynamite
A pregnant woman leading a group of five people out of 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 all be drowned except the woman whose head is
out of the cave. Fortunately, 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?
Answer What would you do if you were one of the men? Explain
why you decided to act that way?
s the The situation or the experience you went through is a
followi moral dilemma. What then is a moral dilemma?
ng Is finding yourself in a moral dilemma, a moral
questio experience? Why or why not?
ns:
GROUP 1
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.
Because Ken is bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, there is no legal
way to stop this man from carrying out his plan. Even if Ken warned the police,
they would not be able to arrest him, since his medical information is protected.
It occurs to Ken that he could contaminate his medication by putting an
untraceable poison in it that will kill him before he gets a chance to infect others.
Should Ken poison this man in order to prevent him from spreading HIV?
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
GROUP 2 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. Who should you choose to work on?
GROUP 3
King Herod
On the birthday of King Herod, his stepdaughter, Salome danced so
well in front of him and the guests at his party that he promised to give her
anything she wanted. Salome consulted her mother about what she should
wish for, and decided to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The
king now had a choice between honoring the promise to his stepdaughter, or
honoring the life of John the Baptist. And Herod chose to have the Baptist
beheaded.
The king had inadvertently designed a moral trap for himself, a
dilemma where whatever he decided to do would be morally wrong.
If your King Herod, what will you do?
GROUP 4
You have a failing grade in your English class, and you were quite
surprised when you received your final exam back. It shows you scored
100% on the exam, yet you cannot figure out how you even passed the
exam. You did not study, and you totally guessed when completing the
multiple-choice and true/false questions. There is no way you could have
passed the final exam, and you were prepared to earn an F in the course.
You had even planned to retake the course during the summer. You really
need to pass this class to graduate. Upon reviewing the exam, you notice
the teacher made a big mistake in grading my exam. You should have
earned an F on the final exam, and not the grade of 100%. Even with the
grade of 100% on the final exam, you will barely pass the course with a
D. The error in grading was not your fault, so you are wondering if you
should say anything to your instructor about her big mistake in grading
my final exam? If you say something, then you will fail the course and
have to retake it in the summer. If you do not say anything, you can at
least earn a D and not have to retake the course. (Think about the short-
and long-term impact of this situation on you as the student, the
GROUP 5
Your eighteen-year-old son/daughter confided in you
that they had been involved in the recent theft of your
neighbor’s car. Should you call the police and turn your
son/daughter in because you want to be honest with
you neighbor, as well as want to tell the truth? Or do
you simply “keep quiet” because you want to remain
loyal to your son/daughter, especially since they told
you in confidence? (Think about truth versus loyalty
when pondering this dilemma, such as in the
relationship with your son/daughter and your neighbor.)
GROUP 6
A Difficult Choice
You and your family love the beach and decide to spend a weekend at an
isolated beach cabin. Your teenage daughter often gets bored on your
getaways, so you make plans to take your niece along. As soon as you arrive, a
storm is looming on the horizon and the water looks rough. You tell the girls
they can get ready to swim, but to come back and help unload the car. They
are so excited, they do not pay attention to the last part of what you say and
run down to the beach to swim. You do not realize they have done so until you
hear your daughter scream. You realize they are both caught in a strong
current and might be swept out to sea. You are a good swimmer and know you
can save one of them. You have a difficult choice to make. Do you:
Save your niece first as she is a poor swimmer and will not be able to last as
long as your daughter?
Save your daughter first, because, although she is a strong swimmer and may
be able to last long enough for you to come back after saving your niece, you
cannot stand the idea of losing her?
