Prepared by: Ms. Denny Vell M.

Devaras, RPm
 Example:
What are Moral Dilemmas? a town mayor faces a
dilemma about how to
● A dilemma is a situation where a protect and preserve a
virgin forest and at the
person is forced to choose between
same time allow miners
two or more conflicting options, neither
and loggers for
of which is acceptable. economic development
in the town.
● It must be noted, however, that if a person is in a difficult situation
but 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 that
person is just experiencing a problematic or distressful situation.
Thus, the most logical thing to do for that person is to look for
alternatives or solutions to address the problem.
● When one of the conflicting requirements overrides the other, we
have a conflict but not a genuine moral dilemma.

● When dilemmas involve human actions which have moral

implications, they are called ethical or moral dilemmas.
Crucial Features of Moral Dilemmas
● the agent is required to do each of two (or more) actions;
● the agent can do each of the actions; but the agent cannot do both (or
all) of the actions;
● The agent thus seems condemned to moral failure; no matter what
she does, she will do something wrong (or fail to do something that she
ought to do)
 Types of Moral Dilemma

1. epistemic and ontological dilemmas

2. self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas
3. obligation dilemmas and prohibition dilemmas, and
4. single agent and multi-person dilemmas.
01
Epistemic Moral
Dilemma
Epistemic Moral Dilemma
Situations wherein two or more moral requirements
conflict with each other and that the moral agent hardly
knows which of the conflicting moral requirements takes
precedence over the other. However, one option must
be better than the other; only, it needs fuller knowledge
of the situation―thus the term “epistemic”moral.
Example:
● For instance, I ought to honor my promise to my son to be home early, but on
my way home I saw a sick old man who needs to be brought to the hospital.
Where does my actual duty lie?

● We cannot deny that there are conflicting duties (moral requirements) here,
but we need to note that we want a fuller knowledge of the situation:
1. Is an important purpose being served by my getting home early?
2. How serious is the condition of the sick old man?

Indeed, I could hardly decide which option is morally right in this situation.
 02
Ontological
Moral Dilemma
Ontological Moral Dilemma
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. The 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.
Example:
● 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.
 03
Self-imposed
Moral Dilemma
Caused by the moral agent’s wrongdoings.
Example:
● David 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, David won the elections, yet he is faced with the dilemma of
fulfilling his promised to the indigenous peoples and at the same time allows
the mining corporation to destroy their forest.
● Indeed, through his own actions, David created a situation in which it is
impossible for him to be discharged from both obligations.
04
World-Imposed
Dilemma
World-Imposed Dilemma
• means that certain events in the world place the agent
in a situation of moral conflict.

• William Styron’s famous Sophie’s Choice is a classic

example
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. 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.”
 05
Obligation
dilemmas
 Obligation vs. Prohibition
• Obligation dilemmas are situations in which more
than one feasible action is obligatory

• Prohibition dilemmas involve cases in which all

feasible actions are forbidden.
Example:
● Sartre uses the anecdote of a former student’s moral dilemma during
World War II 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.
Example:
● 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.
 06
Single Agent
Dilemma
 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.
Example:
● For instance, a medical doctor found out that 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
07
Multi-person Dilemma
 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.
Example:
● 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”.
Questions?
Thank you for Listening!