Moral Dilemma Dec 13th

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A dilemma is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially equally undesirable ones (Oxford Languages, n.d.). When dilemmas involve human actions with moral implications, it is called ethical or moral dilemmas. A religious woman, for example, believes that killing humans is wrong. Sadly, she is facing an ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside of the uterus). There's a strong chance the woman will die if she keeps the pregnancy going. Experts advise that aborting (implies killing) the fetus, is the only option to save her life. So the lady is torn between 1.) Abortion, which will save her life but damage her moral integrity, and 2.) Not performing abortion, which will endanger both her and the fetus' lives. Let’s talk about this certain type of dilemma.

According to Kvalnes (2019) moral (ethical) dilemmas are situations in which a decision-maker must weigh two or more moral values or obligations but can only honor one of them; as a result, regardless of the decision, the individual will violate at least one major moral concern. A person is faced with a variety of responses to the question, "What is right?"

A moral dilemma isn't always a case of "right vs wrong." In some situations, it's a "right vs right" issue, in which the best course of a decision must be chosen from two or more "right" options. For example, what would you do if your 18-year-old son told you that he and his friends were engaged in the recent theft of your neighbor's car? To solve this situation you would have to decide between showing loyalty to your son or your neighbor.

You are a doctor at a prestigious hospital. You have six critically ill patients, five of whom require organ transplants urgently. However, you are unable to help them because no organs are available to save their lives. The 6th patient, on the other hand, will die if he is not given a certain medicine. If the 6th patient dies, his organs can be used to save the other five patients, in that context he can become the organ donor. What will you do?

The Heinz dilemma is a common ethical dilemma example. Heinz’s wife was dying because of a special kind of cancer. Only one medicine might cure her, but it was an advanced formula that a pharmaceutical company had recently discovered. It was extremely costly to produce due to high-cost equipment and singular production techniques. The company was selling the drug at a price tenfold the production costs. Heinz went to everyone he knew to borrow money but he could only collect half of what the drug costs. He talked to the pharmaceutical company’s CEO, begging him to sell the drug cheaper or allow him to defer the payment. But the CEO refused as they had spent massive funds on the research and equipment, and turning in a profit was the top priority for the company. Heinz was devastated, in the end, he broke into the company and stole the drug for his wife.

Ethical dilemmas are common in professional life. Businesses and professional organizations have their own code of ethics and conduct and disciplinary action may be taken if the standards are broken. Ethical dilemmas may include relationships with coworkers, management, clients, and business partners. Failure to figure out the best answer to such problems in the workplace can have huge consequences. 

No matter if it’s personal, social, or professional, the most difficult aspect of an ethical issue is that there is no obvious answer that complies with ethical standards. But philosophers discovered methods for resolving an ethical problem. 1.) Thoroughly examining the cases as they can be logically refuted in some instances. 2.) Selecting the option that provides the greater good or the lesser evil, also known as the value theory approach. 3.) Looking for other options as sometimes new answers can emerge.

Moral dilemmas are also fascinating social themes for students to explore and write about in position and research papers. The death penalty, doctor-assisted suicide, ending the drug war, the military draft, abortion, government spying, jail reform, legalizing (or decriminalizing) marijuana, and fossil fuels vs. renewable energy are all common topics for such assignments.