WHAT ARE MORAL DILEMMAS

What is Dilemma?

 A Dilemma is a situation where person is forced to choose between two or more

conflicting options, neither of which is acceptable.
 Is a conflict in which you have to choose between two or more actions and have moral
reasons for choosing each action.
 A Moral Dilemmas are situations where persons, who are called “ moral agents” in
ethics, are forced to choose between two or more conflicting options, neither of
which resolves the situation in a morally acceptable.
 A moral dilemma is a situation wherein a person is required to make a difficult choice.
Any choice they make may have repercussions, but they must make a choice. This
situation presents what is called a moral conflict. The morals of an individual can come
in handy in this situation to guide them in making a decision.

According to Ben Jiemen Labastin, in moral dilemmas, the agent “seems fated to commit
something which she/he ought to do. In other words, by choosing one possible moral
requirements, the person also fails on others”.

Three conditions that must be present in moral dilemmas:

1. The person or the agent of a moral action is obliged to make a decision about
which course of action is best.
2. There must be different courses of action to choose from.
3. No matter what course of action is taken, some moral principles are always
compromised.

1. Moral Dilemmas in the Organization

Ethical dilemmas in the workplace are quite common, and they’re not always easy to
answer. The concepts are straightforward, but the challenge is in the execution. Even
when organizations have great policies and procedures and follow the laws and
regulations, there's still a high risk of unethical behavior.

For example, some employees may not know the resources exist to help in decision-
making. They may not know who to turn to with questions. Any time an organization is
not fully supporting people, they’re increasing the possibility of high risk behavior.
Why do some organizations stumble when it comes to ethics? The answer is sometimes
simple. In many cases there are mixed messages, such as inconsistent application of
policies or a tendency to overlook borderline or even directly unethical behavior. This is
the “its” not my job mentality.
Here are some other common missteps:
1. Senior leaders fail to walk the talk - they are guilty of modeling inappropriate
behavior.
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 the need for closure, which can lead to conflict avoidance. For
example, an employee may not be sure how to approach a possibly unethical situation, so he or
she may simply opt to close it out without having the difficult conversation about ethics.
6. Defensive is prevalent. This manifests everyone is doing it, so why not
me?; or ;why should I stick my neck out?

Moral Dilemmas in the Health Care Service

Scenario 1: Carrie is a doctor working in a hospital. Due to an accident in the building
next door, there are deadly fumes rising up through the hospital's ventilation system. In
a certain room of the hospital are four of her patients. In another room there is one of
her patients. If she does nothing the fumes will rise up into the room containing the
four patients and cause their deaths.
The only way to avoid the deaths of these patients is to hit a switch that will cause the
fumes to bypass the room containing the four patients. As a result of doing this, the
fumes will enter the room containing the single patient (against her will). If she does
this, the woman will die, but the other four patients will live.
Should Carrie hit the switch in order to save four of her patients?

Scenario 2. Your partner is dying from a rare disease. Luckily a cure has recently been
invented, by one druggist who lives fairly close to you. This druggist is selling the cure
for ten times the amount it cost him to make it. You try to raise the money, but even
borrowing from friends and taking a loan from the bank, you can only raise half the
amount. You go to the druggist and offer to pay him half now and half later, but he
refuses, saying that he invented the cure and is determined to make money off it. You
beg him to sell it cheaper as your partner will die before you can raise the full amount,
but he still refuses.
You believe you could break into his store one night after he has gone home and steal
the cure. This would definitely save your partner, although you might be arrested for
the crime.
What should you do? What if you could only steal the cure by killing the druggist?

The Philippine Health Care Dilemma:

Our geographical location and growing population are still the top and perennial
reasons why developing the Philippine health care system remains a challenge, said the
Department of Health (DOH) and several United Kingdom- based pharmaceuticals
executives in a recent dialogue.

Types of Moral Dilemmas

1. Epistemic and ontological dilemmas;
2. Self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas;
3. Obligation dilemmas and prohibition dilemmas;
4. Single agent and multi-person dilemmas.
1. Epistemic Moral Dilemma
 There are two or more moral requirements that conflict with each other.
 The moral agent hardly knows which one takes precedence over the other.
Ontological Moral Dilemma
 There are two or more moral requirements that conflict with each other, yet neither of
these conflicting moral requirements overrides each other.
 Neither of the moral requirements is stronger than the other; hence,the moral agent
can hardly choose between the conflicting moral requirements.
2. Self- imposed Moral Dilemma
 caused by the moral agents wrongdoings
World – Imposed Dilemma
 Certain events in the world place the moral agent in a situation of moral conflict.
3. Obligation Dilemma
 More than one feasible action is obligatory.
Prohibition Dilemma
 All feasible actions are forbidden.
4. Single Agent
 single agent dilemma, the agent “ought, all things considered, to do A,
ought, all things considered, to do B, and she cannot do both A and B”.
In other words, the moral agent is compelled to act on two or more
equally the same moral options but she cannot choose both.
Multi-person dilemma:
The multi-person dilemma requires more than choosing what is right; it also entails
that the persons involved reached a general consensus.

Three (3) levels of Moral DilemmaS

Example’s of Moral Dilemma

 Lying to get an undeserved reward.

 Cheating on a test.
 Betraying a friend to help other.
 Sticking up for others.

The three (3) levels of moral dilemmas are:

1. Personal or Individual Dilemmas- Simply put, these personal dilemmas are those
experienced and resolved on the personal level. Since many ethical decisions are
personally made, many, if not most of, moral dilemmas fall under, or boil down to, this
level. French philosopher Jean-Pual Sartre gave an example or a case that could
exemplify a personal moral dilemma: “Sartre tells of a student whose brother had been
killed in the German offensive of 1940. The student wanted to avenge his brother and to
fight forces that he regarded as evil. But the students mother was living with him, and
he was her one consolation in life.

“The student believed that he had conflicting obligations. Sartre describes him as being torn
between two kinds of morality: one of limited scope but certain efficacy, personal devotion to
his mother; the other of much wider scope but uncertain efficacy, attempting to contribute to
the defeat of an unjust aggressor”. (Moral Dilemmas”, n.d.) There are many other examples of
personal moral dilemmas. If someone makes conflicting promises, he faces a moral conflict,
when an individual has to choose between the life of a child who is about to be delivered and
the child’s mother, he faces an ethical dilemma.

2. Organizational Moral Dilemma- Basically, ethical cases encountered and resolved by

social organizations are organizational moral dilemmas in business, medical field, and
public sector. For example, a hospital that believes that human life should not be
deliberately shortened and that unpreventable pain should not be tolerated encounters
a conflict in resolving whether to withdraw life support from a dying patient. This is a
common moral dilemma faced by healthcare organizations and medical institution.
Moral dilemmas also arise in professional work. Administrative bodies in business are
confronted with situations in which several courses of action are possible but none of
them provide totally successful outcome to those affected by the decision or actions
taken.
These moral dilemmas in business involve issues about corporate practices, policies, business
behaviors, and the conduct and relationships of individuals in the organizations. Other
business-related dilemmas pertain to the social responsibility pf business, employee rights,
harassment, labor unions, misleading advertising, job discrimination, and whistle blowing. On
the part of public sector, government leaders and employees have a moral duty to act in a
manner that is fair and unbiased.

3. Structural Moral Dilemmas- This structural moral dilemmas pertain to cases involving
network of institutions and operative theoretical paradigms. As they usually encompass
multi-sectoral institutions and organizations, they may be larger in scope and extent
than organizational dilemmas. An example is the prices of medicine in the Philippines
which are higher compared to other countries in Asia and in countries of similar
economic status. Factors affecting medicine prices include the cost of research,
presence of competition in the market, government regulations, and patent protection.

The institutions concerned may want to lower the costs of medicine, thereby benefiting the
Filipino public, but such a move may ruin the interest or legal rights of the involve researchers,
inventors or discoverers which own the patent of medicines or healthcare technologies. An
example of dilemma which is also structural in nature is that of Universal Health Care (UHC).
Locally applied, it is called “Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” (KP). It is the provision to every Filipino
of the highest possible quality of health care that is accessible, efficient, equitably distributed,
adequately funded, fairly financed, and appropriately used by an informed and empowered
public.

Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” (KP), as a government mandate, aims to ensure that every Filipino
shall receive affordable and quality health benefits by (ideally) providing adequate resources,
health human resources, health facilities, and health financing. Nonetheless, health financing is
first and foremost a big issue here. Government could set aside budget for health for the
implementation of this provision. But then, this would mean cutting down allocations on other
sectors (such as education or public works).

References:

Leaño, Roman D. et al. Ethics for college Students. Mindshapers, Co., Inc. 2018.
Blackburn, Simon. Dilemmas: Dithering, Plumping and Grief in Mason. 1996.
Cohon, R. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2004.

Prepared by: Tumbocon, Cheryl G. LPT, RL, MLIS

Instructor, GE8-Ethics, 2nd Sem AY2023-2024