Which of the following would Create a moral or an ethical dilemma

Which of the following would Create a moral or an ethical dilemma

Ethics is the study of right and wrong and as such, it means different things to different people. In a recent small group meeting for Berkeley Connect in Philosophy, some of those differences were discussed and debated. Berkeley Connect mentor Erica Klempner, who recently received her PhD in Philosophy, studies ethics extensively. She challenged students with two classic ethical dilemmas and a set of questions for group discussion.

The first ethical dilemma is known as “organ transplant” and it supposes that you are a doctor with five patients in need of various organ transplants. Without those organ transplants, all five patients will die. The dilemma arises when an innocent bystander arrives at the hospital and you, the doctor, now must choose to either let this innocent bystander walk away while your five patients die, or to kill the innocent bystander and get the sufficient organ supply needed to save all five patients.

Which of the following would Create a moral or an ethical dilemma

With this dilemma, there is consensus across the general public and the philosophy community that it would be morally impermissible to kill the innocent bystander even if it means the likely survival of all five patients. As a result, it doesn’t seem like an extremely valuable ethical dilemma. However, there is another version that produces far more interesting responses.

The second ethical dilemma is known as “the trolley problem,” one of the most famous and recognizable ethical dilemmas. This scenario supposes that you are on a train or trolley hurtling down a track at speeds far too fast to stop quickly. Ahead, you see five people on the track, unable or unwilling to move away before your train will hit them. You also see a second track that splits from the first, allowing you to avoid the five people entirely. Unfortunately, there is one person on that track also unable or unwilling to move before you reach them. The dilemma is whether you should pull the lever in your trolley to switch to the second track, thereby killing the one person, or stay on the first track, allowing the five to die.

Despite having essentially the same basic conditions – a five-to-one tradeoff with inaction leading to five deaths and action leading to the direct killing of one person – there is no consensus at all on this dilemma, making it a far more intriguing puzzle.

After introducing these ethical dilemmas, the mentor proposed some questions for discussion: (1) What is the right thing to do? and (2) Why might someone think that it’s right to either act or do nothing?

Students quickly jumped into spirited small group discussion, arguing over small details like whether the patients in the organ transplant would consent to the murder of the bystander to save their lives, and larger conceptual questions like what constitutes murder. The arguing was respectful and intellectual, creating a space for all opinions without judgment. Students tended to collectively agree that it was right to do nothing in the organ transplant scenario, because the choice was between murder and inaction, especially since these patients already were expecting to die because no organs had been provided up to this point. There was much less consensus about the trolley problem. Students pondered ideas such as whether guilt controlled action or inaction, or how to quantify the value of a human life.

Brought back together to discuss the questions as a group, the students made many excellent points and engaged in lots of back-and-forth with their mentor, with the mentor sometimes playing the role of devil’s advocate. One student made the point that it isn’t the fault of the person in the trolley that the other people are on the tracks, making it morally permissible to not act (thereby allowing the five to die). The mentor then responded with a counter-scenario where someone is walking through a park and hears a child drowning in a lake because they can’t swim. She used this example to illustrate something that could be a point of ideological inconsistency because most people would feel obligated to act even though it wasn’t their fault the child was drowning.

By the end of the discussion, the nature of ethics and its applications were evident. Students challenged themselves and their peers on ethical assumptions and left with a better understanding of what makes an action right or wrong. It was an extremely deep and at times uncomfortable (in a good way) conversation that allowed students to put themselves in scenarios that hopefully they will never face in reality. If you were the trolley driver, would you pull the lever? The answer is extremely subjective, making this question an ideal way to understand ethics better.

posted by Dylan McIlvenna-Davis, Berkeley Connect Communications Assistant (Class of ’20)

An ethical dilemma (ethical paradox or moral dilemma) is a problem in the decision-making process between two possible options, neither of which is absolutely acceptable from an ethical perspective. Although we face many ethical and moral problems in our lives, most of them come with relatively straightforward solutions.

Which of the following would Create a moral or an ethical dilemma

On the other hand, ethical dilemmas are extremely complicated challenges that cannot be easily solved. Therefore, the ability to find the optimal solution in such situations is critical to everyone.

Every person may encounter an ethical dilemma in almost every aspect of their life, including personal, social, and professional.

How to Solve an Ethical Dilemma?

The biggest challenge of an ethical dilemma is that it does not offer an obvious solution that would comply with ethics al norms. Throughout the history of humanity, people have faced such dilemmas, and philosophers aimed and worked to find solutions to them.

The following approaches to solve an ethical dilemma were deduced:

  • Refute the paradox (dilemma): The situation must be carefully analyzed. In some cases, the existence of the dilemma can be logically refuted.
  • Value theory approach: Choose the alternative that offers the greater good or the lesser evil.
  • Find alternative solutions: In some cases, the problem can be reconsidered, and new alternative solutions may arise.

Examples

Some examples of ethical dilemma include:

  • Taking credit for others’ work
  • Offering a client a worse product for your own profit
  • Utilizing inside knowledge for your own profit

Ethical Dilemmas in Business

Ethical dilemmas are especially significant in professional life, as they frequently occur in the workplace. Some companies and professional organizations (e.g., CFA) adhere to their own codes of conduct and ethical standards. Violation of the standards may lead to disciplinary sanctions.

Almost every aspect of business can become a possible ground for ethical dilemmas. It may include relationships with co-workers, management, clients, and business partners.

People’s inability to determine the optimal solution to such dilemmas in a professional setting may result in serious consequences for businesses and organizations. The situation may be common in companies that value results the most.

In order to solve ethical problems, companies and organizations should develop strict ethical standards for their employees. Every company must demonstrate its concerns regarding the ethical norms within the organization. In addition, companies may provide ethical training for their employees.

More Resources

CFI now offers the Business Essentials Bundle with courses on Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, business communication, data visualization, and an understanding of corporate strategy. To keep learning, we suggest these resources:

  • Business Ethics
  • Top Accounting Scandals
  • Types of Due Diligence
  • Whistleblower Policy