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10 What is a Moral (Ethical) Dilemma?

What is a Moral (Ethical) Dilemma?

Deborah Holt, BS, MA

By now, you should have a good understanding of how we define “ethics” and “morals.” We will now turn our attention to defining moral (ethical) dilemma. When defining moral (ethical) dilemma, it is important to recognize that a moral (ethical) dilemma is not simply a question that requires you to make a decision of “What color outfit should I wear today,” or “Will the red or blue shoes best match my outfit?” Nor is a moral (ethical) dilemma a situation where you must decide between an action such as “Should I eat chocolate or vanilla ice cream for dessert” or “Should I read the introduction to my textbook or start with chapter one?” As far as I know, there is nothing immoral or unethical with eating either chocolate or vanilla ice cream for dessert or with skipping over the introduction and beginning with the first chapter of a book ( except, you might overlook some helpful information by not reading the introduction to your textbook).

The point is a moral (ethical) dilemma involves making a choice between two or more moral (ethical) values and in making a decision or in taking action you will compromise or violate some other moral (ethical) principle(s) or value(s). A moral (ethical) dilemma is a situation that involves a choice, decision, act/action, solution that may include an unpleasant problem or situation where you feel you simply do not know what to do or which way to turn. When identifying what is or is not a moral (ethical) dilemma, we need to remember the key words here are “moral” or “ethical” (as a reminder, we are using these words interchangeably).

A response to a moral (ethical) dilemma is not always a matter of “right versus wrong,” as both courses of action or decision could seem moral or ethical (or the “right thing to do”). In some cases, it is a “right versus right” type of dilemma, which involves having to decide the better or best way to respond when faced with two or more “right “courses of action or decisions to select from. When faced with a moral (ethical) dilemma, you will probably be asking yourself “What should I do?” or “What ought I do now?” You may have a “little voice” inside your head telling you to do one thing, while your immediate desire is to do another. Some may refer to this “little voice” as your conscience, and you may be the type of person who is keenly aware of their own “moral compass.” Have you ever known what you “must do,” but simply did not “feel” like doing it? When faced with a situation like this, do you listen to that “little voice” and follow your moral compass? Or, do you simply do the first thing you think of, what most pleases you or others, or do nothing?

The” right versus wrong” ethical dilemmas, are not usually the ones we have a problem resolving (such as, “Should I cheat on a test?” or “Is it okay to harm an innocent person?”). It is the “right versus right” ethical dilemmas that seem to be the hardest to resolve.

Let’s look at a few examples of what could be considered “right versus right’ moral (ethical) dilemma:

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.)

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 instructor, and other students in the same course.)

You cannot stand wearing a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It makes your glasses fog up and it is simply uncomfortable. You have not been feeling ill either. For the most part, you stay home and only venture out for occasional groceries. You live alone and do not live in a state or locality where wearing a mask is mandatory. Should you wear a make when you occasionally go to the grocery story? When pondering this dilemma, consider that there’s no law that makes it mandatory to wear a make ( such as, there is no law that applies to your state or community). Just because something is legal, still consider if it is ethical. (You should consider the impact of wearing or not wearing a mask in relationship to you as the individual, as compared to the community in which you live.)

You are the manager of a restaurant and one of your long-term employees did not show up for work on a Friday night when your restaurant is slammed with customers. This really put you in a jam, and you end up having to ask one of your other employees to work late to cover the shift for the missing employee. What is surprising to you is your long-term employee has never done this before. It was shocking they never called to let you know what happened and inform you they would not be coming in. The following morning the long-term employee shows up for their scheduled morning shift. You are not very happy because the employee acts like nothing happened, and did not even offer an explanation. In the employee handbook, there is a statement about zero tolerance for “no shows” when it comes to being at work ( this is really important on a Friday night too). The employee handbook further explains it is the employee’s responsibility to notify you prior to their scheduled work time/shift. What should you do? Do you immediately tell this long-term employee they are fired because it was very disrespectful to both you and the other employees, as well as making it difficult to provide quality service for customers because you were short-handed in terms of staff? Or, do you give this employee a chance to “redeem” themselves? (You should consider if you believe justice is served by enforcing the rules and holding employees accountable for their actions. Or, should you look with mercy on the wrongdoer since they are a long-term employee and perhaps give them another chance?)

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Moral Dilemmas

Moral dilemmas, at the very least, involve conflicts between moral requirements. Consider the cases given below.

1. Examples

2. the concept of moral dilemmas, 3. problems, 4. dilemmas and consistency, 5. responses to the arguments, 6. moral residue and dilemmas, 7. types of moral dilemmas, 8. multiple moralities, 9. conclusion, cited works, other worthwhile readings, other internet resources, related entries.

In Book I of Plato’s Republic , Cephalus defines ‘justice’ as speaking the truth and paying one’s debts. Socrates quickly refutes this account by suggesting that it would be wrong to repay certain debts—for example, to return a borrowed weapon to a friend who is not in his right mind. Socrates’ point is not that repaying debts is without moral import; rather, he wants to show that it is not always right to repay one’s debts, at least not exactly when the one to whom the debt is owed demands repayment. What we have here is a conflict between two moral norms: repaying one’s debts and protecting others from harm. And in this case, Socrates maintains that protecting others from harm is the norm that takes priority.

Nearly twenty-four centuries later, Jean-Paul Sartre described a moral conflict the resolution of which was, to many, less obvious than the resolution to the Platonic conflict. Sartre (1957) 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 student’s 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.

While the examples from Plato and Sartre are the ones most commonly cited, there are many others. Literature abounds with such cases. In Aeschylus’s Agamemnon , the protagonist ought to save his daughter and ought to lead the Greek troops to Troy; he ought to do each but he cannot do both. And Antigone, in Sophocles’s play of the same name, ought to arrange for the burial of her brother, Polyneices, and ought to obey the pronouncements of the city’s ruler, Creon; she can do each of these things, but not both. Areas of applied ethics, such as biomedical ethics, business ethics, and legal ethics, are also replete with such cases.

What is common to the two well-known cases is conflict. In each case, an agent regards herself as having moral reasons to do each of two actions, but doing both actions is not possible. Ethicists have called situations like these moral dilemmas . The crucial features of a moral dilemma are these: 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).

The Platonic case strikes many as too easy to be characterized as a genuine moral dilemma. For the agent’s solution in that case is clear; it is more important to protect people from harm than to return a borrowed weapon. And in any case, the borrowed item can be returned later, when the owner no longer poses a threat to others. Thus in this case we can say that the requirement to protect others from serious harm overrides the requirement to repay one’s debts by returning a borrowed item when its owner so demands. When one of the conflicting requirements overrides the other, we have a conflict but not a genuine moral dilemma. So in addition to the features mentioned above, in order to have a genuine moral dilemma it must also be true that neither of the conflicting requirements is overridden (Sinnott-Armstrong 1988, Chapter 1).

It is less obvious in Sartre’s case that one of the requirements overrides the other. Why this is so, however, may not be so obvious. Some will say that our uncertainty about what to do in this case is simply the result of uncertainty about the consequences. If we were certain that the student could make a difference in defeating the Germans, the obligation to join the military would prevail. But if the student made little difference whatsoever in that cause, then his obligation to tend to his mother’s needs would take precedence, since there he is virtually certain to be helpful. Others, though, will say that these obligations are equally weighty, and that uncertainty about the consequences is not at issue here.

Ethicists as diverse as Kant (1971/1797), Mill (1979/1861), and Ross (1930, 1939) have assumed that an adequate moral theory should not allow for the possibility of genuine moral dilemmas. Only recently—in the last sixty years or so—have philosophers begun to challenge that assumption. And the challenge can take at least two different forms. Some will argue that it is not possible to preclude genuine moral dilemmas. Others will argue that even if it were possible, it is not desirable to do so.

To illustrate some of the debate that occurs regarding whether it is possible for any theory to eliminate genuine moral dilemmas, consider the following. The conflicts in Plato’s case and in Sartre’s case arose because there is more than one moral precept (using ‘precept’ to designate rules and principles), more than one precept sometimes applies to the same situation, and in some of these cases the precepts demand conflicting actions. One obvious solution here would be to arrange the precepts, however many there might be, hierarchically. By this scheme, the highest ordered precept always prevails, the second prevails unless it conflicts with the first, and so on. There are at least two glaring problems with this obvious solution, however. First, it just does not seem credible to hold that moral rules and principles should be hierarchically ordered. While the requirements to keep one’s promises and to prevent harm to others clearly can conflict, it is far from clear that one of these requirements should always prevail over the other. In the Platonic case, the obligation to prevent harm is clearly stronger. But there can easily be cases where the harm that can be prevented is relatively mild and the promise that is to be kept is very important. And most other pairs of precepts are like this. This was a point made by Ross in The Right and the Good (1930, Chapter 2).

The second problem with this easy solution is deeper. Even if it were plausible to arrange moral precepts hierarchically, situations can arise in which the same precept gives rise to conflicting obligations. Perhaps the most widely discussed case of this sort is taken from William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice (1980, 528–529; see Greenspan 1983 and Tessman 2015, 160–163). Sophie and her two children are at a Nazi concentration camp. A guard confronts Sophie and tells her that one of her children will be allowed to live and one will be killed. But it is Sophie who must decide which child will be killed. Sophie can prevent the death of either of her children, but only by condemning the other to be killed. The guard makes the situation even more excruciating by informing Sophie that if she chooses neither, then both will be killed. With this added factor, Sophie has a morally compelling reason to choose one of her children. But for each child, Sophie has an apparently equally strong reason to save him or her. Thus the same moral precept gives rise to conflicting obligations. Some have called such cases symmetrical (Sinnott-Armstrong 1988, Chapter 2).

We shall return to the issue of whether it is possible to preclude genuine moral dilemmas. But what about the desirability of doing so? Why have ethicists thought that their theories should preclude the possibility of dilemmas? At the intuitive level, the existence of moral dilemmas suggests some sort of inconsistency. An agent caught in a genuine dilemma is required to do each of two acts but cannot do both. And since he cannot do both, not doing one is a condition of doing the other. Thus, it seems that the same act is both required and forbidden. But exposing a logical inconsistency takes some work; for initial inspection reveals that the inconsistency intuitively felt is not present. Allowing \(OA\) to designate that the agent in question ought to do \(A\) (or is morally obligated to do \(A\), or is morally required to do \(A)\), that \(OA\) and \(OB\) are both true is not itself inconsistent, even if one adds that it is not possible for the agent to do both \(A\) and \(B\). And even if the situation is appropriately described as \(OA\) and \(O\neg A\), that is not a contradiction; the contradictory of \(OA\) is \(\neg OA\). (See Marcus 1980 and McConnell 1978, 273.)

Similarly rules that generate moral dilemmas are not inconsistent, at least on the usual understanding of that term. Ruth Marcus suggests plausibly that we “define a set of rules as consistent if there is some possible world in which they are all obeyable in all circumstances in that world.” Thus, “rules are consistent if there are possible circumstances in which no conflict will emerge,” and “a set of rules is inconsistent if there are no circumstances, no possible world, in which all the rules are satisfiable” (Marcus 1980, 128 and 129). Kant, Mill, and Ross were likely aware that a dilemma-generating theory need not be inconsistent. Even so, they would be disturbed if their own theories allowed for such predicaments. If this speculation is correct, it suggests that Kant, Mill, Ross, and others thought that there is an important theoretical feature that dilemma-generating theories lack. And this is understandable. It is certainly no comfort to an agent facing a reputed moral dilemma to be told that at least the rules which generate this predicament are consistent because there is a possible world in which they do not conflict. For a good practical example, consider the situation of the criminal defense attorney. She is said to have an obligation to hold in confidence the disclosures made by a client and to be required to conduct herself with candor before the court (where the latter requires that the attorney inform the court when her client commits perjury) (Freedman 1975, Chapter 3). It is clear that in this world these two obligations often conflict. It is equally clear that in some possible world—for example, one in which clients do not commit perjury—that both obligations can be satisfied. Knowing this is of no assistance to defense attorneys who face a conflict between these two requirements in this world.

Ethicists who are concerned that their theories not allow for moral dilemmas have more than consistency in mind. What is troubling is that theories that allow for dilemmas fail to be uniquely action-guiding . A theory is appropriately action-guiding if it assesses an agent’s options as either forbidden, (merely) permissible, or obligatory (or, possibly, supererogatory). If more than one action is right, then the agent’s obligation is to do any one of the right acts. A theory can fail to be uniquely action-guiding in either of two ways: by recommending incompatible actions in a situation or by not recommending any action at all. Theories that generate genuine moral dilemmas fail to be uniquely action-guiding in the former way. Theories that have no way, even in principle, of determining what an agent should do in a particular situation have what Thomas E. Hill, Jr. calls “gaps” (Hill 1996, 179–183); they fail to be action-guiding in the latter way. Since one of the main points of moral theories is to provide agents with guidance, that suggests that it is desirable for theories to eliminate dilemmas and gaps, at least if doing so is possible.

But failing to be uniquely action-guiding is not the only reason that the existence of moral dilemmas is thought to be troublesome. Just as important, the existence of dilemmas does lead to inconsistencies if certain other widely held theses are true. Here we shall consider two different arguments, each of which shows that one cannot consistently acknowledge the reality of moral dilemmas while holding selected (and seemingly plausible) principles.

The first argument shows that two standard principles of deontic logic are, when conjoined, incompatible with the existence of moral dilemmas. The first of these is the principle of deontic consistency

Intuitively this principle just says that the same action cannot be both obligatory and forbidden. Note that as initially described, the existence of dilemmas does not conflict with PC. For as described, dilemmas involve a situation in which an agent ought to do \(A\), ought to do \(B\), but cannot do both \(A\) and \(B\). But if we add a principle of deontic logic , then we obtain a conflict with PC:

Intuitively, PD just says that if doing \(A\) brings about \(B\), and if \(A\) is obligatory (morally required), then \(B\) is obligatory (morally required). The first argument that generates inconsistency can now be stated. Premises (1), (2), and (3) represent the claim that moral dilemmas exist.

Line (10) directly conflicts with PC. And from PC and (1), we can conclude:

And, of course, (9) and (11) are contradictory. So if we assume PC and PD, then the existence of dilemmas generates an inconsistency of the old-fashioned logical sort. (Note: In standard deontic logic, the ‘\(\Box\)’ in PD typically designates logical necessity. Here I take it to indicate physical necessity so that the appropriate connection with premise (3) can be made. And I take it that logical necessity is stronger than physical necessity.)

Two other principles accepted in most systems of deontic logic entail PC. So if PD holds, then one of these additional two principles must be jettisoned too. The first says that if an action is obligatory, it is also permissible. The second says that an action is permissible if and only if it is not forbidden. These principles may be stated as:

Principles OP and D are basic; they seem to be conceptual truths (Brink 1994, section IV). From these two principles, one can deduce PC, which gives it additional support.

The second argument that generates inconsistency, like the first, has as its first three premises a symbolic representation of a moral dilemma.

And like the first, this second argument shows that the existence of dilemmas leads to a contradiction if we assume two other commonly accepted principles. The first of these principles is that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’. Intuitively this says that if an agent is morally required to do an action, it must be within the agent’s power to do it. This principle seems necessary if moral judgments are to be uniquely action-guiding. We may represent this as

The other principle, endorsed by most systems of deontic logic, says that if an agent is required to do each of two actions, she is required to do both. We may represent this as

The argument then proceeds:

So if one assumes that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ and if one assumes the principle represented in (5)—dubbed by some the agglomeration principle (Williams 1965)—then again a contradiction can be derived.

Now obviously the inconsistency in the first argument can be avoided if one denies either PC or PD. And the inconsistency in the second argument can be averted if one gives up either the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ or the agglomeration principle. There is, of course, another way to avoid these inconsistencies: deny the possibility of genuine moral dilemmas. It is fair to say that much of the debate concerning moral dilemmas in the last sixty years has been about how to avoid the inconsistencies generated by the two arguments above.

Opponents of moral dilemmas have generally held that the crucial principles in the two arguments above are conceptually true, and therefore we must deny the possibility of genuine dilemmas. (See, for example, Conee 1982 and Zimmerman 1996.) Most of the debate, from all sides, has focused on the second argument. There is an oddity about this, however. When one examines the pertinent principles in each argument which, in combination with dilemmas, generates an inconsistency, there is little doubt that those in the first argument have a greater claim to being conceptually true than those in the second. (One who recognizes the salience of the first argument is Brink 1994, section V.) Perhaps the focus on the second argument is due to the impact of Bernard Williams’s influential essay (Williams 1965). But notice that the first argument shows that if there are genuine dilemmas, then either PC or PD must be relinquished. Even most supporters of dilemmas acknowledge that PC is quite basic. E.J. Lemmon, for example, notes that if PC does not hold in a system of deontic logic, then all that remains are truisms and paradoxes (Lemmon 1965, p. 51). And giving up PC also requires denying either OP or D, each of which also seems basic. There has been much debate about PD—in particular, questions generated by the Good Samaritan paradox—but still it seems basic. So those who want to argue against dilemmas purely on conceptual grounds are better off focusing on the first of the two arguments above.

Some opponents of dilemmas also hold that the pertinent principles in the second argument—the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ and the agglomeration principle—are conceptually true. But foes of dilemmas need not say this. Even if they believe that a conceptual argument against dilemmas can be made by appealing to PC and PD, they have several options regarding the second argument. They may defend ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, but hold that it is a substantive normative principle, not a conceptual truth. Or they may even deny the truth of ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ or the agglomeration principle, though not because of moral dilemmas, of course.

Defenders of dilemmas need not deny all of the pertinent principles. If one thinks that each of the principles at least has some initial plausibility, then one will be inclined to retain as many as possible. Among the earlier contributors to this debate, some took the existence of dilemmas as a counterexample to ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ (for example, Lemmon 1962 and Trigg 1971); others, as a refutation of the agglomeration principle (for example, Williams 1965 and van Fraassen 1973). A common response to the first argument is to deny PD. A more complicated response is to grant that the crucial deontic principles hold, but only in ideal worlds. In the real world, they have heuristic value, bidding agents in conflict cases to look for permissible options, though none may exist (Holbo 2002, especially sections 15–17).

Friends and foes of dilemmas have a burden to bear in responding to the two arguments above. For there is at least a prima facie plausibility to the claim that there are moral dilemmas and to the claim that the relevant principles in the two arguments are true. Thus each side must at least give reasons for denying the pertinent claims in question. Opponents of dilemmas must say something in response to the positive arguments that are given for the reality of such conflicts. One reason in support of dilemmas, as noted above, is simply pointing to examples. The case of Sartre’s student and that from Sophie’s Choice are good ones; and clearly these can be multiplied indefinitely. It will tempting for supporters of dilemmas to say to opponents, “If this is not a real dilemma, then tell me what the agent ought to do and why ?” It is obvious, however, that attempting to answer such questions is fruitless, and for at least two reasons. First, any answer given to the question is likely to be controversial, certainly not always convincing. And second, this is a game that will never end; example after example can be produced. The more appropriate response on the part of foes of dilemmas is to deny that they need to answer the question. Examples as such cannot establish the reality of dilemmas. Surely most will acknowledge that there are situations in which an agent does not know what he ought to do. This may be because of factual uncertainty, uncertainty about the consequences, uncertainty about what principles apply, or a host of other things. So for any given case, the mere fact that one does not know which of two (or more) conflicting obligations prevails does not show that none does.

Another reason in support of dilemmas to which opponents must respond is the point about symmetry. As the cases from Plato and Sartre show, moral rules can conflict. But opponents of dilemmas can argue that in such cases one rule overrides the other. Most will grant this in the Platonic case, and opponents of dilemmas will try to extend this point to all cases. But the hardest case for opponents is the symmetrical one, where the same precept generates the conflicting requirements. The case from Sophie’s Choice is of this sort. It makes no sense to say that a rule or principle overrides itself. So what do opponents of dilemmas say here? They are apt to argue that the pertinent, all-things-considered requirement in such a case is disjunctive: Sophie should act to save one or the other of her children, since that is the best that she can do (for example, Zimmerman 1996, Chapter 7). Such a move need not be ad hoc , since in many cases it is quite natural. If an agent can afford to make a meaningful contribution to only one charity, the fact that there are several worthwhile candidates does not prompt many to say that the agent will fail morally no matter what he does. Nearly all of us think that he should give to one or the other of the worthy candidates. Similarly, if two people are drowning and an agent is situated so that she can save either of the two but only one, few say that she is doing wrong no matter which person she saves. Positing a disjunctive requirement in these cases seems perfectly natural, and so such a move is available to opponents of dilemmas as a response to symmetrical cases.

Supporters of dilemmas have a burden to bear too. They need to cast doubt on the adequacy of the pertinent principles in the two arguments that generate inconsistencies. And most importantly, they need to provide independent reasons for doubting whichever of the principles they reject. If they have no reason other than cases of putative dilemmas for denying the principles in question, then we have a mere standoff. Of the principles in question, the most commonly questioned on independent grounds are the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ and PD. Among supporters of dilemmas, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Sinnott-Armstrong 1988, Chapters 4 and 5) has gone to the greatest lengths to provide independent reasons for questioning some of the relevant principles.

One well-known argument for the reality of moral dilemmas has not been discussed yet. This argument might be called “phenomenological.” It appeals to the emotions that agents facing conflicts experience and our assessment of those emotions.

Return to the case of Sartre’s student. Suppose that he joins the Free French forces. It is likely that he will experience remorse or guilt for having abandoned his mother. And not only will he experience these emotions, this moral residue, but it is appropriate that he does. Yet, had he stayed with his mother and not joined the Free French forces, he also would have appropriately experienced remorse or guilt. But either remorse or guilt is appropriate only if the agent properly believes that he has done something wrong (or failed to do something that he was all-things-considered required to do). Since no matter what the agent does he will appropriately experience remorse or guilt, then no matter what he does he will have done something wrong. Thus, the agent faces a genuine moral dilemma. (The best known proponents of arguments for dilemmas that appeal to moral residue are Williams 1965 and Marcus 1980; for a more recent contribution, see Tessman 2015, especially Chapter 2.)

Many cases of moral conflict are similar to Sartre’s example with regard to the agent’s reaction after acting. Certainly the case from Sophie’s Choice fits here. No matter which of her children Sophie saves, she will experience enormous guilt for the consequences of that choice. Indeed, if Sophie did not experience such guilt, we would think that there was something morally wrong with her. In these cases, proponents of the argument (for dilemmas) from moral residue must claim that four things are true: (1) when the agents acts, she experiences remorse or guilt; (2) that she experiences these emotions is appropriate and called for; (3) had the agent acted on the other of the conflicting requirements, she would also have experienced remorse or guilt; and (4) in the latter case these emotions would have been equally appropriate and called for (McConnell 1996, pp. 37–38). In these situations, then, remorse or guilt will be appropriate no matter what the agent does and these emotions are appropriate only when the agent has done something wrong. Therefore, these situations are genuinely dilemmatic and moral failure is inevitable for agents who face them.

There is much to say about the moral emotions and situations of moral conflict; the positions are varied and intricate. Without pretending to resolve all of the issues here, it will be pointed out that opponents of dilemmas have raised two different objections to the argument from moral residue. The first objection, in effect, suggests that the argument is question-begging (McConnell 1978 and Conee 1982); the second objection challenges the assumption that remorse and guilt are appropriate only when the agent has done wrong.

To explain the first objection, note that it is uncontroversial that some bad feeling or other is called for when an agent is in a situation like that of Sartre’s student or Sophie. But the negative moral emotions are not limited to remorse and guilt. Among these other emotions, consider regret. An agent can appropriately experience regret even when she does not believe that she has done something wrong. Consider a compelling example provided by Edmund Santurri (1987, 46). Under battlefield conditions, an army medic must perform a life-saving amputation of a soldier’s leg with insufficient anesthetic. She will surely feel intense regret because of the pain she has inflicted, but justifiably she will not feel that she has done wrong. Regret can even be appropriate when a person has no causal connection at all with the bad state of affairs. It is appropriate for me to regret the damage that a recent fire has caused to my neighbor’s house, the pain that severe birth defects cause in infants, and the suffering that a starving animal experiences in the wilderness. Not only is it appropriate that I experience regret in these cases, but I would probably be regarded as morally lacking if I did not. (For accounts of moral remainders as they relate specifically to Kantianism and virtue ethics, see, respectively, Hill 1996, 183–187 and Hursthouse 1999, 44–48 and 68–77.)

With remorse or guilt, at least two components are present: the experiential component, namely, the negative feeling that the agent has; and the cognitive component, namely, the belief that the agent has done something wrong and takes responsibility for it. Although this same cognitive component is not part of regret, the negative feeling is. And the experiential component alone cannot serve as a gauge to distinguish regret from remorse, for regret can range from mild to intense, and so can remorse. In part, what distinguishes the two is the cognitive component. But now when we examine the case of an alleged dilemma, such as that of Sartre’s student, it is question-begging to assert that it is appropriate for him to experience remorse no matter what he does. No doubt, it is appropriate for him to experience some negative feeling. To say, however, that it is remorse that is called for is to assume that the agent appropriately believes that he has done something wrong. Since regret is warranted even in the absence of such a belief, to assume that remorse is appropriate is to assume , not argue, that the agent’s situation is genuinely dilemmatic. Opponents of dilemmas can say that one of the requirements overrides the other, or that the agent faces a disjunctive requirement, and that regret is appropriate because even when he does what he ought to do, some bad will ensue. Either side, then, can account for the appropriateness of some negative moral emotion. To get more specific, however, requires more than is warranted by the present argument. This appeal to moral residue, then, does not by itself establish the reality of moral dilemmas.

Matters are even more complicated, though, as the second objection to the argument from moral residue shows. The residues contemplated by proponents of the argument are diverse, ranging from guilt or remorse to a belief that the agent ought to apologize or compensate persons who were negatively impacted by the fact that he did not satisfy one of the conflicting obligations. The argument assumes that experiencing remorse or guilt or believing that one ought to apologize or compensate another are appropriate responses only if the agent believes that he has done something wrong. But this assumption is debatable, for multiple reasons.

First, even when one obligation clearly overrides another in a conflict case, it is often appropriate to apologize to or to explain oneself to any disadvantaged parties. Ross provides such a case (1930, 28): one who breaks a relatively trivial promise in order to assist someone in need should in some way make it up to the promisee. Even though the agent did no wrong, the additional actions promote important moral values (McConnell 1996, 42–44).

Second, as Simon Blackburn argues, compensation or its like may be called for even when there was no moral conflict at all (Blackburn 1996, 135–136). If a coach rightly selected Agnes for the team rather than Belinda, she still is likely to talk to Belinda, encourage her efforts, and offer tips for improving. This kind of “making up” is just basic decency.

Third, the consequences of what one has done may be so horrible as to make guilt inevitable. Consider the case of a middle-aged man, Bill, and a seven-year-old boy, Johnny. It is set in a midwestern village on a snowy December day. Johnny and several of his friends are riding their sleds down a narrow, seldom used street, one that intersects with a busier, although still not heavily traveled, street. Johnny, in his enthusiasm for sledding, is not being very careful. During his final ride he skidded under an automobile passing through the intersection and was killed instantly. The car was driven by Bill. Bill was driving safely, had the right of way, and was not exceeding the speed limit. Moreover, given the physical arrangement, it would have been impossible for Bill to have seen Johnny coming. Bill was not at fault, legally or morally, for Johnny’s death. Yet Bill experienced what can best be described as remorse or guilt about his role in this horrible event (McConnell 1996, 39).

At one level, Bill’s feelings of remorse or guilt are not warranted. Bill did nothing wrong. Certainly Bill does not deserve to feel guilt (Dahl 1996, 95–96). A friend might even recommend that Bill seek therapy. But this is not all there is to say. Most of us understand Bill’s response. From Bill’s point of view, the response is not inappropriate, not irrational, not uncalled-for. To see this, imagine that Bill had had a very different response. Suppose that Bill had said, “I regret Johnny’s death. It is a terrible thing. But it certainly was not my fault. I have nothing to feel guilty about and I don’t owe his parents any apologies.” Even if Bill is correct intellectually, it is hard to imagine someone being able to achieve this sort of objectivity about his own behavior. When human beings have caused great harm, it is natural for them to wonder if they are at fault, even if to outsiders it is obvious that they bear no moral responsibility for the damage. Human beings are not so finely tuned emotionally that when they have been causally responsible for harm, they can easily turn guilt on or off depending on their degree of moral responsibility. (See Zimmerman 1988, 134–135.)

Work in moral psychology can help to explain why self-directed moral emotions like guilt or remorse are natural when an agent has acted contrary to a moral norm, whether justifiably or not. Many moral psychologists describe dual processes in humans for arriving at moral judgments (see, for example, Greene 2013, especially Chapters 4–5, and Haidt 2012, especially Chapter 2). Moral emotions are automatic, the brain’s immediate response to a situation. Reason is more like the brain’s manual mode, employed when automatic settings are insufficient, such as when norms conflict. Moral emotions are likely the product of evolution, reinforcing conduct that promotes social harmony and disapproving actions that thwart that end. If this is correct, then negative moral emotions are apt to be experienced, to some extent, any time an agent’s actions are contrary to what is normally a moral requirement.

So both supporters and opponents of moral dilemmas can give an account of why agents who face moral conflicts appropriately experience negative moral emotions. But there is a complex array of issues concerning the relationship between ethical conflicts and moral emotions, and only book-length discussions can do them justice. (See Greenspan 1995 and Tessman 2015.)

In the literature on moral dilemmas, it is common to draw distinctions among various types of dilemmas. Only some of these distinctions will be mentioned here. It is worth noting that both supporters and opponents of dilemmas tend to draw some, if not all, of these distinctions. And in most cases the motivation for doing so is clear. Supporters of dilemmas may draw a distinction between dilemmas of type \(V\) and \(W\). The upshot is typically a message to opponents of dilemmas: “You think that all moral conflicts are resolvable. And that is understandable, because conflicts of type \(V\) are resolvable. But conflicts of type \(W\) are not resolvable. Thus, contrary to your view, there are some genuine moral dilemmas.” By the same token, opponents of dilemmas may draw a distinction between dilemmas of type \(X\) and \(Y\). And their message to supporters of dilemmas is this: “You think that there are genuine moral dilemmas, and given certain facts, it is understandable why this appears to be the case. But if you draw a distinction between conflicts of types \(X\) and \(Y\), you can see that appearances can be explained by the existence of type \(X\) alone, and type \(X\) conflicts are not genuine dilemmas.” With this in mind, let us note a few of the distinctions.

One distinction is between epistemic conflicts and ontological conflicts. (For different terminology, see Blackburn 1996, 127–128.) The former involve conflicts between two (or more) moral requirements and the agent does not know which of the conflicting requirements takes precedence in her situation. Everyone concedes that there can be situations where one requirement does take priority over the other with which it conflicts, though at the time action is called for it is difficult for the agent to tell which requirement prevails. The latter are conflicts between two (or more) moral requirements, and neither is overridden. This is not simply because the agent does not know which requirement is stronger; neither is. Genuine moral dilemmas, if there are any, are ontological. Both opponents and supporters of dilemmas acknowledge that there are epistemic conflicts.

There can be genuine moral dilemmas only if neither of the conflicting requirements is overridden. Ross (1930, Chapter 2) held that all moral precepts can be overridden in particular circumstances. This provides an inviting framework for opponents of dilemmas to adopt. But if some moral requirements cannot be overridden—if they hold absolutely—then it will be easier for supporters of dilemmas to make their case. Lisa Tessman has distinguished between negotiable and non-negotiable moral requirements (Tessman 2015, especially Chapters 1 and 3). The former, if not satisfied, can be adequately compensated or counterbalanced by some other good. Non-negotiable moral requirements, however, if violated produce a cost that no one should have to bear; such a violation cannot be counterbalanced by any benefits. If non-negotiable moral requirements can conflict—and Tessman argues that they can—then those situations will be genuine dilemmas and agents facing them will inevitably fail morally. It might seem that if there is more than one moral precept that holds absolutely, then moral dilemmas must be possible. Alan Donagan, however, argues against this. He maintains that moral rules hold absolutely, and apparent exceptions are accounted for because tacit conditions are built in to each moral rule (Donagan 1977, Chapters 3 and 6, especially 92–93). So even if some moral requirements cannot be overridden, the existence of dilemmas may still be an open question.

Another distinction is between self-imposed moral dilemmas and dilemmas imposed on an agent by the world , as it were. Conflicts of the former sort arise because of the agent’s own wrongdoing (Aquinas; Donagan 1977, 1984; and McConnell 1978). If an agent made two promises that he knew conflicted, then through his own actions he created a situation in which it is not possible for him to discharge both of his requirements. Dilemmas imposed on the agent by the world (or other agents), by contrast, do not arise because of the agent’s wrongdoing. The case of Sartre’s student is an example, as is the case from Sophie’s Choice . For supporters of dilemmas, this distinction is not all that important. But among opponents of dilemmas, there is a disagreement about whether the distinction is important. Some of these opponents hold that self-imposed dilemmas are possible, but that their existence does not point to any deep flaws in moral theory (Donagan 1977, Chapter 5). Moral theory tells agents how they ought to behave; but if agents violate moral norms, of course things can go askew. Other opponents deny that even self-imposed dilemmas are possible. They argue that an adequate moral theory should tell agents what they ought to do in their current circumstances, regardless of how those circumstances arose. As Hill puts it, “[M]orality acknowledges that human beings are imperfect and often guilty, but it calls upon each at every new moment of moral deliberation to decide conscientiously and to act rightly from that point on” (Hill 1996, 176). Given the prevalence of wrongdoing, if a moral theory did not issue uniquely action-guiding “contrary-to-duty imperatives,” its practical import would be limited.

Yet another distinction is between obligation dilemmas and prohibition dilemmas . The former are situations in which more than one feasible action is obligatory. The latter involve cases in which all feasible actions are forbidden. Some (especially, Valentyne 1987 and 1989) argue that plausible principles of deontic logic may well render obligation dilemmas impossible; but they do not preclude the possibility of prohibition dilemmas. The case of Sartre’s student, if genuinely dilemmatic, is an obligation dilemma; Sophie’s case is a prohibition dilemma. There is another reason that friends of dilemmas emphasize this distinction. Some think that the “disjunctive solution” used by opponents of dilemmas—when equally strong precepts conflict, the agent is required to act on one or the other—is more plausible when applied to obligation dilemmas than when applied to prohibition dilemmas.

As moral dilemmas are typically described, they involve a single agent . The agent ought, all things considered, to do \(A\), ought, all things considered, to do \(B\), and she cannot do both \(A\) and \(B\). But we can distinguish multi-person dilemmas from single agent ones. The two-person case is representative of multi-person dilemmas. The situation is such that one agent, P1, ought to do \(A\), a second agent, P2, ought to do \(B\), and though each agent can do what he ought to do, it is not possible both for P1 to do \(A\) and P2 to do \(B\). (See Marcus 1980, 122 and McConnell 1988.) Multi-person dilemmas have been called “interpersonal moral conflicts.” Such conflicts are most theoretically worrisome if the same moral system (or theory) generates the conflicting obligations for P1 and P2. A theory that precludes single-agent moral dilemmas remains uniquely action-guiding for each agent. But if that same theory does not preclude the possibility of interpersonal moral conflicts, not all agents will be able to succeed in discharging their obligations, no matter how well-motivated or how hard they try. For supporters of moral dilemmas, this distinction is not all that important. They no doubt welcome (theoretically) more types of dilemmas, since that may make their case more persuasive. But if they establish the reality of single-agent dilemmas, in one sense their work is done. For opponents of dilemmas, however, the distinction may be important. This is because at least some opponents believe that the conceptual argument against dilemmas applies principally to single-agent cases. It does so because the ought-to-do operator of deontic logic and the accompanying principles are properly understood to apply to entities who can make decisions. To be clear, this position does not preclude that collectives (such as businesses or nations) can have obligations. But a necessary condition for this being the case is that there is (or should be) a central deliberative standpoint from which decisions are made. This condition is not satisfied when two otherwise unrelated agents happen to have obligations both of which cannot be discharged. Put simply, while an individual act involving one agent can be the object of choice, a compound act involving multiple agents is difficult so to conceive. (See Smith 1986 and Thomason 1981.) Alexander Dietz (2022) has recently shown, however, that matters can be even more complicated. He describes a case where a small group of people have an obligation to save two strangers, but one of the members of the group has an obligation to save her own child at the same time. The small group and the individual can both make choices, and the group’s obligation conflicts with that of the individual member (assuming that the group can succeed only if all members act in concert). This is an odd multi-agent dilemma, “one in which one of the agents is part of the other” (Dietz 2022, p. 66). Erin Taylor (2011) has argued that neither universalizability nor the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ ensure that there will be no interpersonal moral conflicts (what she calls “irreconcilable differences”). These conflicts would raise no difficulties if morality required trying rather than acting, but such a view is not plausible. Still, moral theories should minimize cases of interpersonal conflict (Taylor 2011, pp. 189–190).To the extent that the possibility of interpersonal moral conflicts raises an intramural dispute among opponents of dilemmas, that dispute concerns how to understand the principles of deontic logic and what can reasonably be demanded of moral theories.

Another issue raised by the topic of moral dilemmas is the relationship among various aspects of morality. Consider this distinction. General obligations are moral requirements that individuals have simply because they are moral agents. That agents are required not to kill, not to steal, and not to assault are examples of general obligations. Agency alone makes these precepts applicable to individuals. By contrast, role-related obligations are moral requirements that agents have in virtue of their role, occupation, or position in society. That lifeguards are required to save swimmers in distress is a role-related obligation. Another example, mentioned earlier, is the obligation of a defense attorney to hold in confidence the disclosures made by a client. These categories need not be exclusive. It is likely that anyone who is in a position to do so ought to save a drowning person. And if a person has particularly sensitive information about another, she should probably not reveal it to third parties regardless of how the information was obtained. But lifeguards have obligations to help swimmers in distress when most others do not because of their abilities and contractual commitments. And lawyers have special obligations of confidentiality to their clients because of implicit promises and the need to maintain trust.

General obligations and role-related obligations can, and sometimes do, conflict. If a defense attorney knows the whereabouts of a deceased body, she may have a general obligation to reveal this information to family members of the deceased. But if she obtained this information from her client, the role-related obligation of confidentiality prohibits her from sharing it with others. Supporters of dilemmas may regard conflicts of this sort as just another confirmation of their thesis. Opponents of dilemmas will have to hold that one of the conflicting obligations takes priority. The latter task could be discharged if it were shown that one these two types of obligations always prevails over the other. But such a claim is implausible; for it seems that in some cases of conflict general obligations are stronger, while in other cases role-related duties take priority. The case seems to be made even better for supporters of dilemmas, and worse for opponents, when we consider that the same agent can occupy multiple roles that create conflicting requirements. The physician, Harvey Kelekian, in Margaret Edson’s (1999/1993) Pulitzer Prize winning play, Wit, is an oncologist, a medical researcher, and a teacher of residents. The obligations generated by those roles lead Dr. Kelekian to treat his patient, Vivian Bearing, in ways that seem morally questionable (McConnell 2009). At first blush, anyway, it does not seem possible for Kelekian to discharge all of the obligations associated with these various roles.

In the context of issues raised by the possibility of moral dilemmas, the role most frequently discussed is that of the political actor. Michael Walzer (1973) claims that the political ruler, qua political ruler, ought to do what is best for the state; that is his principal role-related obligation. But he also ought to abide by the general obligations incumbent on all. Sometimes the political actor’s role-related obligations require him to do evil—that is, to violate some general obligations. Among the examples given by Walzer are making a deal with a dishonest ward boss (necessary to get elected so that he can do good) and authorizing the torture of a person in order to uncover a plot to bomb a public building. Since each of these requirements is binding, Walzer believes that the politician faces a genuine moral dilemma, though, strangely, he also thinks that the politician should choose the good of the community rather than abide by the general moral norms. (The issue here is whether supporters of dilemmas can meaningfully talk about action-guidance in genuinely dilemmatic situations. For one who answers this in the affirmative, see Tessman 2015, especially Chapter 5.) Such a situation is sometimes called “the dirty hands problem.” The expression, “dirty hands,” is taken from the title of a play by Sartre (1946). The idea is that no one can rule without becoming morally tainted. The role itself is fraught with moral dilemmas. This topic has received much attention recently. John Parrish (2007) has provided a detailed history of how philosophers from Plato to Adam Smith have dealt with the issue. And C.A.J. Coady (2008) has suggested that this reveals a “messy morality.”

For opponents of moral dilemmas, the problem of dirty hands represents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to show how conflicts between general obligations and role-related obligations, and those among the various role-related obligations, can be resolved in a principled way. The opportunity for theories that purport to have the resources to eliminate dilemmas—such as Kantianism, utilitarianism, and intuitionism—is to show how the many moralities under which people are governed are related.

Debates about moral dilemmas have been extensive during the last six decades. These debates go to the heart of moral theory. Both supporters and opponents of moral dilemmas have major burdens to bear. Opponents of dilemmas must show why appearances are deceiving. Why are examples of apparent dilemmas misleading? Why are certain moral emotions appropriate if the agent has done no wrong? Supporters must show why several of many apparently plausible principles should be given up—principles such as PC, PD, OP, D, ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, and the agglomeration principle. And each side must provide a general account of obligations, explaining whether none, some, or all can be overridden in particular circumstances. Much progress has been made, but the debate is apt to continue.

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Strasser, Mark, 1987, “Guilt, Regret, and Prima Facie Duties,” The Southern Journal of Philosophy , 25: 133–146.
Swank, Casey, 1985, “Reasons, Dilemmas, and the Logic of ‘Ought’,” Analysis , 45: 111–116.
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Vallentyne, Peter, 1992, “Moral Dilemmas and Comparative Conceptions of Morality,” The Southern Journal of Philosophy , 30: 117–124.
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I thank Michael Zimmerman for helpful comments on the initial version of this essay, and two reviewers for suggestions on the most recent instantiation.

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Ethical Dilemma

I. definition and key ideas.

Ethical or moral dilemmas are situations real or imagined where a person must choose between courses of action, all of which are morally unacceptable.

A person must choose one of two innocents to be killed, or both will be; this one is known as Sophie’s Choice, after the William Styron novel in which it appears. Easier dilemmas may present conflicts between two different ethical principles, such as in the question of whether it is right to steal food in order to feed one’s starving family.

Moral dilemmas are thought-experiments, imaginative scenarios used to argue philosophical points. They are often presented in order to refute one or another system of ethics; one may argue that if the dilemma is unreasonable, the ethical system is incomplete.

However, the status of moral dilemmas has become a major philosophical issue in its own right. Some philosophers argue that there are no true moral dilemmas, others that they are unavoidable and do not necessarily indicate a flawed system of ethics. Thus, moral dilemmas are a way to explore the question of what an ethical system must or must not be expected to accomplish.

For those who are not professional philosophers, ethical dilemmas serve mainly as a tool for exploring one’s own and others’ ethical values. The question, “what would YOU do?” in regards to a moral dilemma must, in most cases, reveal one’s priorities – or provoke one to determine those priorities.

A lot of moral dilemmas revolve around conflicts between teleological, or result-oriented, ethics and deontological, or precept-oriented, ethics. This has also been characterized as the conflict between what is “right” (deontological) and what results in “good” (teleological). However, some of the most difficult moral dilemmas do not revolve around this conflict; moral dilemmas are more difficult if symmetrical – if they require choosing between two morally identical options, such as in the choice to save only one of two innocent lives.

II. Where Does It Come From?

The first moral dilemmas written down appear in the Bible. For example, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham faced a classic moral dilemma when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son Isaac—murder his son or disobey God; although this story is supposed to have happened before Moses received the ten commandments, it’s fair to assume that people of his time would have considered both obeying God and not murdering one’s own child to be moral imperatives. The story seems intended to establish that obedience takes priority, and will be rewarded with mercy. It demonstrates a deontological ethics—one based on a general rule, not results.

However, the first moral dilemma usually cited in western philosophy comes (unsurprisingly) from the ancient Greeks. It was an argument Socrates made against a claim in Plato ’s Republic that justice equals speaking the truth and paying one’s debts. Socrates created a moral dilemma to demonstrate the unreliability of this proposed ethical principle; he pointed out that it could be wrong to re-pay certain debts, such as if you had borrowed a weapon from a friend who was not in his right mind and might be prone to violence. You might think Socrates was just being needlessly difficult here, but as usual, he was just using the dilemma to make a point—that ethical rules have relative priorities; in this case, the precept that one must do one’s best to prevent harm to people takes priority over the precept that one must re-pay one’s debts. This illustrates one of the most popular solutions to ethical dilemmas—that a system of ethics should prioritize its rules. However, it is unfortunately easy to show that there can be no consistent and complete prioritization of ethics; priorities sometimes depend on circumstances.

The next most often cited dilemma comes from Jean-Paul Sartre in the mid-twentieth-century existentialist philosopher. Sartre asks us to imagine a young man whose brother has just been killed while defending his country in a war where the enemy is poised to invade his homeland. At the same time, the young man’s mother lives with him and depends on him, having nobody else. The dilemma is, should the man go to war to defend his nation and avenge his brother’s murder or stay home to care for his mother? There is no agreed upon solution to this one; it depends on one’s values!

The years since WWII have seen many real ethical dilemmas become constant social or political issues. Depending on one’s beliefs and values, abortion and the death penalty could both be regarded as ethical dilemmas—conflicts between protecting lives and taking lives. Philosophically, euthanasia seems like a more difficult dilemma because it could be seen either as required by or forbidden by a doctor’s Hippocratic oath, depending on how you look at it.

In the future, we will have new ethical dilemmas related to advancements in science and medicine. The debates mentioned in the previous paragraph will take on new urgency in a world where people can live for centuries. And artificial intelligence will eventually raise dilemmas connected with the rights and responsibilities of artificial beings.

III. Controversies

Every ethical dilemma is a controversy! But here, we will address a more general controversy—the question of whether it is possible or desirable to have an ethical system without irresolvable dilemmas.

Arguments that a good ethical system should be dilemma-free:

Consistency: an ethical dilemma implies a conflict between two rules, both of which should, normally, be obeyed. That means that in the face of a dilemma, some action that would normally be mandatory becomes forbidden. This is like saying “A equals not-A,” which really bother some philosophers, although it’s often true.
Providing singular guidance: Many people believe that an ethical system should provide one answer to the question, “what should I do?” in any situation. If not, doesn’t it fail as an ethical system?

Arguments that ethical dilemmas are unavoidable or desirable:

The solution of prioritizing ethical rules, so that one can always choose the higher priority, won’t always work. For example, most people would agree, with Socrates in his argument with Plato, that preventing harm is higher priority than re-paying debts. But, it would be easy to imagine a case where keeping a promise was more important than preventing some small degree of harm. And most ethical rules are like this; they have different priorities in different situations
Symmetrical dilemmas : It is easy to come up with dilemmas that cannot be resolved by choosing between two moral rules, because both choices are governed by the same precept, such as in Sophie’s Choice.
Moral Residue: in many, if not most ethical dilemmas, a person is going to feel remorse no matter which choice they make—for example, such as in Sartre’s war dilemma, or Sophie’s choice. This means that a person is going to feel they have done something morally wrong no matter what they choose; this seems enough, perhaps, to prove that they are facing a real moral dilemma.

Some of these points, especially “moral residue” continue to be heavily debated in philosophy, but since nobody has yet demonstrated a dilemma free ethical system, perhaps the dilemmas are winning!

IV. Famous Quotes

Quotation #1:

“The moral dilemma is to make peace with the unacceptable.” – Mary Sarton

Sarton suggests that the true dilemma in all moral dilemmas lies in accepting the unacceptable. Sarton would probably say, for example, that in Sophie’s Choice, the dilemma is not which innocent to kill, but the need to psychologically accept making such a choice. In other words, making peace with such choices and not making peace with them are equally immoral, and that’s the dilemma within all moral dilemmas.

Quotation #2:

“There is the devastatingly simple, yet profound, moral dilemma, which underlies the book: is it better for a man to choose to be bad than to be conditioned to be good?” — Anthony Burgess ( A Clockwork Orange )

This unusual moral dilemma echoes many novels about the inherent conflict between freedom and morality. In Burgess’ novel, a dangerously violent young criminal lives in a fictional future England where he has been arrested for murder and is offered a chance to be “rehabilitated” through conditioning that using drugs that make him physically ill at even the thought of violence. After conditioning he can’t hurt people, and he also can’t really choose. Which is right, to allow a person to be bad but with a free mind or good by taking away their free will ? Other famous stories that address the conflict between morality and freedom include Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and all of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novels.

Epistemic versus Ontological dilemmas : A dilemma is epistemic if the problem is that one does not know which choice will result in the greatest good (or least evil). A dilemma is ontological if knowledge is not an issue; one simply has a choice.

Obligation versus Prohibition dilemmas : Sartre’s story about the young man going to war is an obligation dilemma; the man is obligated to do two incompatible things. Sophie’s Choice is a prohibition dilemma; she must choose between two morally prohibited actions—choosing one person to be killed or another. Prohibition choices seem more problematic in general, since they require one to directly violate morals, whereas obligation dilemmas merely require one to neglect a moral obligation.

VI. Moral versus Ethical dilemmas and “the right” versus “the good”

What is “right” is defined by ethical principles, such as “thou shalt not kill.” “The good” refers to the results of actions and events, such as people not coming to harm, so it’s a moral issue. Most dilemmas are both moral and ethical because ethics normally tell us what is moral and immoral. Some dilemmas might technically be only one or the other. For example, Sophie’s Choice seems like a purely moral dilemma, because Sophie is not being forced to choose between ethical principles. Abortion seems more of an ethical issue because one must choose between two ethical principles, one protecting the fetus, and one the mother. However, abortion can also be seen as a moral issue—to choose the policy which is most moral.

VII. Moral dilemmas in Pop Culture

Example #1 : blade runner.

Almost every story about future conscious machines revolves around ethical dilemmas. Harrison Ford plays a retired “blade runner”—a cop who hunts down and kills escaped androids–living conscious robots who can be more intelligent and stronger than humans, and who have no empathy. Ford’s character is forced to continue working after he tries to quit and he finds himself obligated to kill androids who want only freedom, including an entirely innocent one. Much of the film is about him trying to escape or cope with this moral dilemma.

Example #2 : The Dark Knight

It would be impossible to mention ethical dilemmas without referring to the version of the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” in The Dark Knight (Batman) film. In the film’s simplified version of this classic dilemma, the Joker takes control of two ferries crossing Gotham harbor, each packed with people and explosives wired to blow, and each group is given the trigger for the other boat’s explosives. The Joker tells them that if one boat blows up the other within a time-limit he will spare their lives, and otherwise, he will blow up both boats. I won’t tell you the spoiler!

This and other Batman films feature many ethical dilemmas; it could be said that Batman is an ethical dilemma, a man who takes justice, and lives into his own hands, illegally, but in order to protect innocent people from criminals.

a. To kill or not to kill

b. To harm someone in self-defense, or be harmed

c. To steal in order not to starve

d. To break a promise in order not to hurt someone

a. Sophie’s Choice

b. Defending one’s homeland with weapons that may kill civilians

c. Euthanasia

d. Killing someone in self-defense

a. Ethical systems should tell you the right thing to do in all cases

b. Even if you make the best choice, acting immorally will still cause remorse

c. In some dilemmas, both choices are wrong by the same principle

d. There is no way to prioritize ethical principles that will apply to all situations

a. Euthanasia

b. Killing in self-defense

c. Voting for president

d. Sartre’s dilemma

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How to Write an Ethics Paper: Guide & Ethical Essay Examples

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An ethics essay is a type of academic writing that explores ethical issues and dilemmas. Students should evaluates them in terms of moral principles and values. The purpose of an ethics essay is to examine the moral implications of a particular issue, and provide a reasoned argument in support of an ethical perspective.

Writing an essay about ethics is a tough task for most students. The process involves creating an outline to guide your arguments about a topic and planning your ideas to convince the reader of your feelings about a difficult issue. If you still need assistance putting together your thoughts in composing a good paper, you have come to the right place. We have provided a series of steps and tips to show how you can achieve success in writing. This guide will tell you how to write an ethics paper using ethical essay examples to understand every step it takes to be proficient. In case you don’t have time for writing, get in touch with our professional essay writers for hire . Our experts work hard to supply students with excellent essays.

What Is an Ethics Essay?

An ethics essay uses moral theories to build arguments on an issue. You describe a controversial problem and examine it to determine how it affects individuals or society. Ethics papers analyze arguments on both sides of a possible dilemma, focusing on right and wrong. The analysis gained can be used to solve real-life cases. Before embarking on writing an ethical essay, keep in mind that most individuals follow moral principles. From a social context perspective, these rules define how a human behaves or acts towards another. Therefore, your theme essay on ethics needs to demonstrate how a person feels about these moral principles. More specifically, your task is to show how significant that issue is and discuss if you value or discredit it.

Purpose of an Essay on Ethics

The primary purpose of an ethics essay is to initiate an argument on a moral issue using reasoning and critical evidence. Instead of providing general information about a problem, you present solid arguments about how you view the moral concern and how it affects you or society. When writing an ethical paper, you demonstrate philosophical competence, using appropriate moral perspectives and principles.

Things to Write an Essay About Ethics On

Before you start to write ethics essays, consider a topic you can easily address. In most cases, an ethical issues essay analyzes right and wrong. This includes discussing ethics and morals and how they contribute to the right behaviors. You can also talk about work ethic, code of conduct, and how employees promote or disregard the need for change. However, you can explore other areas by asking yourself what ethics mean to you. Think about how a recent game you watched with friends started a controversial argument. Or maybe a newspaper that highlighted a story you felt was misunderstood or blown out of proportion. This way, you can come up with an excellent topic that resonates with your personal ethics and beliefs.

Ethics Paper Outline

Sometimes, you will be asked to submit an outline before writing an ethics paper. Creating an outline for an ethics paper is an essential step in creating a good essay. You can use it to arrange your points and supporting evidence before writing. It also helps organize your thoughts, enabling you to fill any gaps in your ideas. The outline for an essay should contain short and numbered sentences to cover the format and outline. Each section is structured to enable you to plan your work and include all sources in writing an ethics paper. An ethics essay outline is as follows:

Background information
Thesis statement
Restate thesis statement
Summarize key points
Final thoughts on the topic

Using this outline will improve clarity and focus throughout your writing process.

Ethical Essay Structure

Ethics essays are similar to other essays based on their format, outline, and structure. An ethical essay should have a well-defined introduction, body, and conclusion section as its structure. When planning your ideas, make sure that the introduction and conclusion are around 20 percent of the paper, leaving the rest to the body. We will take a detailed look at what each part entails and give examples that are going to help you understand them better. Refer to our essay structure examples to find a fitting way of organizing your writing.

Ethics Paper Introduction

An ethics essay introduction gives a synopsis of your main argument. One step on how to write an introduction for an ethics paper is telling about the topic and describing its background information. This paragraph should be brief and straight to the point. It informs readers what your position is on that issue. Start with an essay hook to generate interest from your audience. It can be a question you will address or a misunderstanding that leads up to your main argument. You can also add more perspectives to be discussed; this will inform readers on what to expect in the paper.

Ethics Essay Introduction Example

You can find many ethics essay introduction examples on the internet. In this guide, we have written an excellent extract to demonstrate how it should be structured. As you read, examine how it begins with a hook and then provides background information on an issue.

Imagine living in a world where people only lie, and honesty is becoming a scarce commodity. Indeed, modern society is facing this reality as truth and deception can no longer be separated. Technology has facilitated a quick transmission of voluminous information, whereas it's hard separating facts from opinions.

In this example, the first sentence of the introduction makes a claim or uses a question to hook the reader.

Ethics Essay Thesis Statement

An ethics paper must contain a thesis statement in the first paragraph. Learning how to write a thesis statement for an ethics paper is necessary as readers often look at it to gauge whether the essay is worth their time.

When you deviate away from the thesis, your whole paper loses meaning. In ethics essays, your thesis statement is a roadmap in writing, stressing your position on the problem and giving reasons for taking that stance. It should focus on a specific element of the issue being discussed. When writing a thesis statement, ensure that you can easily make arguments for or against its stance.

Ethical Paper Thesis Example

Look at this example of an ethics paper thesis statement and examine how well it has been written to state a position and provide reasons for doing so:

The moral implications of dishonesty are far-reaching as they undermine trust, integrity, and other foundations of society, damaging personal and professional relationships.

The above thesis statement example is clear and concise, indicating that this paper will highlight the effects of dishonesty in society. Moreover, it focuses on aspects of personal and professional relationships.

Ethics Essay Body

The body section is the heart of an ethics paper as it presents the author's main points. In an ethical essay, each body paragraph has several elements that should explain your main idea. These include:

A topic sentence that is precise and reiterates your stance on the issue.
Evidence supporting it.
Examples that illustrate your argument.
A thorough analysis showing how the evidence and examples relate to that issue.
A transition sentence that connects one paragraph to another with the help of essay transitions .

When you write an ethics essay, adding relevant examples strengthens your main point and makes it easy for others to understand and comprehend your argument.

Body Paragraph for Ethics Paper Example

A good body paragraph must have a well-defined topic sentence that makes a claim and includes evidence and examples to support it. Look at part of an example of ethics essay body paragraph below and see how its idea has been developed:

Honesty is an essential component of professional integrity. In many fields, trust and credibility are crucial for professionals to build relationships and success. For example, a doctor who is dishonest about a potential side effect of a medication is not only acting unethically but also putting the health and well-being of their patients at risk. Similarly, a dishonest businessman could achieve short-term benefits but will lose their client’s trust.

Ethics Essay Conclusion

A concluding paragraph shares the summary and overview of the author's main arguments. Many students need clarification on what should be included in the essay conclusion and how best to get a reader's attention. When writing an ethics paper conclusion, consider the following:

Restate the thesis statement to emphasize your position.
Summarize its main points and evidence.
Final thoughts on the issue and any other considerations.

You can also reflect on the topic or acknowledge any possible challenges or questions that have not been answered. A closing statement should present a call to action on the problem based on your position.

Sample Ethics Paper Conclusion

The conclusion paragraph restates the thesis statement and summarizes the arguments presented in that paper. The sample conclusion for an ethical essay example below demonstrates how you should write a concluding statement.

In conclusion, the implications of dishonesty and the importance of honesty in our lives cannot be overstated. Honesty builds solid relationships, effective communication, and better decision-making. This essay has explored how dishonesty impacts people and that we should value honesty. We hope this essay will help readers assess their behavior and work towards being more honest in their lives.

In the above extract, the writer gives final thoughts on the topic, urging readers to adopt honest behavior.

How to Write an Ethics Paper?

As you learn how to write an ethics essay, it is not advised to immediately choose a topic and begin writing. When you follow this method, you will get stuck or fail to present concrete ideas. A good writer understands the importance of planning. As a fact, you should organize your work and ensure it captures key elements that shed more light on your arguments. Hence, following the essay structure and creating an outline to guide your writing process is the best approach. In the following segment, we have highlighted step-by-step techniques on how to write a good ethics paper.

1. Pick a Topic

Before writing ethical papers, brainstorm to find ideal topics that can be easily debated. For starters, make a list, then select a title that presents a moral issue that may be explained and addressed from opposing sides. Make sure you choose one that interests you. Here are a few ideas to help you search for topics:

Review current trends affecting people.
Think about your personal experiences.
Study different moral theories and principles.
Examine classical moral dilemmas.

Once you find a suitable topic and are ready, start to write your ethics essay, conduct preliminary research, and ascertain that there are enough sources to support it.

2. Conduct In-Depth Research

Once you choose a topic for your essay, the next step is gathering sufficient information about it. Conducting in-depth research entails looking through scholarly journals to find credible material. Ensure you note down all sources you found helpful to assist you on how to write your ethics paper. Use the following steps to help you conduct your research:

Clearly state and define a problem you want to discuss.
This will guide your research process.
Develop keywords that match the topic.
Begin searching from a wide perspective. This will allow you to collect more information, then narrow it down by using the identified words above.

3. Develop an Ethics Essay Outline

An outline will ease up your writing process when developing an ethic essay. As you develop a paper on ethics, jot down factual ideas that will build your paragraphs for each section. Include the following steps in your process:

Review the topic and information gathered to write a thesis statement.
Identify the main arguments you want to discuss and include their evidence.
Group them into sections, each presenting a new idea that supports the thesis.
Write an outline.
Review and refine it.

Examples can also be included to support your main arguments. The structure should be sequential, coherent, and with a good flow from beginning to end. When you follow all steps, you can create an engaging and organized outline that will help you write a good essay.

4. Write an Ethics Essay

Once you have selected a topic, conducted research, and outlined your main points, you can begin writing an essay . Ensure you adhere to the ethics paper format you have chosen. Start an ethics paper with an overview of your topic to capture the readers' attention. Build upon your paper by avoiding ambiguous arguments and using the outline to help you write your essay on ethics. Finish the introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that explains your main position. Expand on your thesis statement in all essay paragraphs. Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence and provide evidence plus an example to solidify your argument, strengthen the main point, and let readers see the reasoning behind your stance. Finally, conclude the essay by restating your thesis statement and summarizing all key ideas. Your conclusion should engage the reader, posing questions or urging them to reflect on the issue and how it will impact them.

5. Proofread Your Ethics Essay

Proofreading your essay is the last step as you countercheck any grammatical or structural errors in your essay. When writing your ethic paper, typical mistakes you could encounter include the following:

Spelling errors: e.g., there, they’re, their.
Homophone words: such as new vs. knew.
Inconsistencies: like mixing British and American words, e.g., color vs. color.
Formatting issues: e.g., double spacing, different font types.

While proofreading your ethical issue essay, read it aloud to detect lexical errors or ambiguous phrases that distort its meaning. Verify your information and ensure it is relevant and up-to-date. You can ask your fellow student to read the essay and give feedback on its structure and quality.

Ethics Essay Examples

Writing an essay is challenging without the right steps. There are so many ethics paper examples on the internet, however, we have provided a list of free ethics essay examples below that are well-structured and have a solid argument to help you write your paper. Click on them and see how each writing step has been integrated. Ethics essay example 1

Ethics essay example 2

Ethics essay example 3

Ethics essay example 4

College ethics essay example 5

Ethics Essay Writing Tips

When writing papers on ethics, here are several tips to help you complete an excellent essay:

Choose a narrow topic and avoid broad subjects, as it is easy to cover the topic in detail.
Ensure you have background information. A good understanding of a topic can make it easy to apply all necessary moral theories and principles in writing your paper.
State your position clearly. It is important to be sure about your stance as it will allow you to draft your arguments accordingly.
When writing ethics essays, be mindful of your audience. Provide arguments that they can understand.
Integrate solid examples into your essay. Morality can be hard to understand; therefore, using them will help a reader grasp these concepts.

Bottom Line on Writing an Ethics Paper

Creating this essay is a common exercise in academics that allows students to build critical skills. When you begin writing, state your stance on an issue and provide arguments to support your position. This guide gives information on how to write an ethics essay as well as examples of ethics papers. Remember to follow these points in your writing:

Create an outline highlighting your main points.
Write an effective introduction and provide background information on an issue.
Include a thesis statement.
Develop concrete arguments and their counterarguments, and use examples.
Sum up all your key points in your conclusion and restate your thesis statement.

Contact our academic writing platform and have your challenge solved. Here, you can order essays and papers on any topic and enjoy top quality.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

Ethical Dilemmas

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First Online: 22 November 2023
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Ethical conflict ; Ethical problems ; Moral conflict ; Moral dilemmas ; Moral problems

Ethical dilemmas refer to those situations in which the individual has to choose between two alternatives that are both considered unacceptable from a moral point of view. The decision maker is in a conflictual state of mind and needs to analyze the problem more thoroughly in order to make the best decision in those circumstances. In most cases, the individual will have to make a compromise. One of the strongest dilemmas in the literature is known as Sophie’s choice after the novel with the same name written by William Styron in 1979 or the trolley dilemma. When facing with an ethical dilemma, the decider has the following choices: one of the opposing alternatives or not choosing anything at all. In order to make the best or the right decision in a specific situation, the individual should address the right questions and formulate as clear as possible the ethical dilemma and the...

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Puiu, S. (2023). Ethical Dilemmas. In: Idowu, S.O., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25984-5_570

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Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Ethics and Moral Philosophy — Ethical Dilemma

Ethical Dilemma Essays

Understanding how to write an ethical dilemma essay.

If you're tasked with writing an ethical dilemma essay, it's essential to start with a clear understanding of the topic. Here are some prompt samples to help you grasp the key aspects:

Prompt 1: Analyze a personal ethical dilemma you have faced and the decision-making process involved.
Prompt 2: Discuss an ethical dilemma in a real-world professional setting and propose a solution.
Prompt 3: Explore the ethical dilemmas surrounding advancements in technology and their impact on society.
Prompt 4: Investigate the moral conflicts arising from environmental conservation efforts and economic development.

Brainstorming and Choosing a Compelling Essay Topic

Now that you have some prompts to work with, it's time to brainstorm and select a captivating essay topic. Consider the following points:

Personal Experience: Reflect on personal ethical dilemmas you've encountered, as they can provide unique insights.
Relevance: Ensure your topic is relevant to the prompt and highlights the complexity of ethical decision-making.
Moral Ambiguity: Choose a topic that involves conflicting values or principles, making the dilemma truly ethical.
Contemporary Issues: Explore current events or situations where ethical choices play a crucial role.

Unique Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics

Here's a list of unique essay topics that go beyond the ordinary:

The Ethical Dilemma of Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Vehicles
Ethical Decision-Making in Healthcare: The Case of Allocating Limited Resources During a Pandemic
The Moral Implications of Genetic Editing and Designer Babies
Corporate Responsibility: Balancing Profit and Ethical Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Environmental Ethics: The Conflict Between Conservation and Indigenous Rights
The Ethical Challenges of Privacy and Surveillance in the Digital Age
The Use of Torture in Interrogation: An Examination of the Ticking Time Bomb Scenario
Ethical Dilemmas in Journalism: Reporting on Sensitive Subjects and the Public's Right to Know
Animal Testing in Scientific Research: Balancing Scientific Advancement and Animal Welfare
The Ethical Considerations of Assisted Suicide and End-of-Life Care
Police Use of Force: Balancing Public Safety and Individual Rights
Environmental Conservation vs. Economic Development: The Case of Deforestation
AI and Employment: The Ethical Dilemma of Automation and Job Displacement
The Ethics of Human Cloning and Its Potential Consequences
Refugee Crisis: Ethical Obligations and National Sovereignty
Ethical Challenges in Artificial Intelligence Research: Bias and Fairness
Food Industry Ethics: The Dilemma of Factory Farming and Sustainable Alternatives
Medical Trials in Developing Countries: Balancing Scientific Progress and Informed Consent
The Ethical Implications of Space Exploration and Colonization
Ethics of AI-Powered Deepfake Technology: Implications for Privacy and Misinformation

Paragraph and Phrase Inspiration

When crafting your essay, here are some sample paragraphs and phrases that can inspire your writing:

Introduction: "Ethical dilemmas are the moral crossroads where our values and principles clash with real-life decisions."
Main Body: "In the case of AI in autonomous vehicles, the ethical dilemma centers around the choice between prioritizing passenger safety or minimizing harm to pedestrians."
Counterargument: "While some argue that sacrificing individual privacy for national security is justified, it's crucial to consider the potential abuses and erosion of civil liberties."
Conclusion: "In conclusion, ethical dilemmas are not mere theoretical exercises; they shape our society and define our values. By examining these complex issues, we can strive for a more ethical and compassionate world."

Now that you have these tips and unique ideas in mind, go ahead and write an engaging ethical dilemma essay that leaves a lasting impact. Dive deep into the complexities of moral choices and spark thoughtful discussions.

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A Case Study on The Ethical Dilemma Surrounding The Hospital Reimbursement after The Treatment of Illegal Immigrants

Ethical issues in digital immortality, ethical issues of using social media at workplace, ethical dilemmas in social work: solution to address the situation, ethical dilemma in nursing: abortion and euthanasia, the ethical dilemma of water privatization, the ethical dilemma of therapeutic cloning, medical and ethical dilemma: euthanasia or right to die, ethical structure in business decision making, ethical theories: deontology and utilitarianism, history and ethics: conflicting theories in areas of knowledge, the moral dilemma of euthanasia, applying ethical principles to reduce hospital readmission, moral permissibility of voluntary and non-voluntary active euthanasia, discussion of whether assisted suicide is morally acceptable, the moral and ethical views on the goal of euthanasia, research paper on the ethical issue of publishing the pentagon papers, discussion of whether it is ethical for parents to create saviour siblings, ethical controversies in mcdonalds dead dad advertisement, how being an authentic man is subject to moral evaluation.

An ethical dilemma refers to a situation or scenario in which an individual or group is faced with a complex decision that involves conflicting moral principles or values. It is a challenging predicament where there is no clear-cut right or wrong choice, and the decision-maker must carefully navigate the moral and ethical implications of their actions.

Personal Ethical Dilemmas: These arise when an individual faces conflicting moral values or principles in their personal life. For example, choosing between honesty and protecting a loved one's reputation. Professional Ethical Dilemmas: These occur in the workplace and involve conflicts between ethical responsibilities and professional obligations. For instance, deciding whether to blow the whistle on unethical practices that may harm others but jeopardize one's career. Societal Ethical Dilemmas: These pertain to broader societal issues and involve conflicting values or interests. Examples include debates on topics like euthanasia, abortion, or genetic engineering, where different ethical perspectives clash. Organizational Ethical Dilemmas: These dilemmas arise within organizations when employees face conflicting values or ethical standards. For instance, deciding between loyalty to the company and reporting unethical behavior by a colleague. Technological Ethical Dilemmas: With advancements in technology, ethical dilemmas have emerged, such as privacy concerns, AI ethics, or the impact of automation on employment.

Conflict of Values: Ethical dilemmas arise when individuals encounter conflicting values or principles, where there is no clear right or wrong answer. These conflicting values create a sense of moral uncertainty. Difficult Decision-Making: Ethical dilemmas require individuals to make difficult choices between competing options, each with their own ethical implications. The decision-making process involves weighing the potential consequences and considering the moral implications of each choice. No Perfect Solution: Ethical dilemmas often lack a perfect or ideal solution that satisfies all ethical considerations. Regardless of the decision made, there may be negative consequences or ethical trade-offs involved. Personal and Moral Significance: Ethical dilemmas are deeply personal and have significant moral implications for the individuals involved. They often challenge personal integrity and moral values, making the decision emotionally and morally burdensome. Ethical Reasoning: Resolving ethical dilemmas requires careful ethical reasoning, analysis, and consideration of different ethical theories or frameworks. It involves examining the principles, values, and potential consequences involved in order to make an informed and morally justifiable decision. Contextual Nature: Ethical dilemmas are influenced by the specific context in which they occur. Factors such as cultural norms, social expectations, legal considerations, and professional codes of conduct can further complicate the decision-making process.

Utilitarianism: Utilitarianism asserts that the ethical choice is the one that maximizes overall happiness or utility for the greatest number of people. When faced with an ethical dilemma, individuals utilizing this theory would weigh the potential consequences of each option and choose the one that leads to the greatest net benefit. Deontological Ethics: Deontological ethics focuses on adhering to moral duties and principles regardless of the outcomes. This approach emphasizes the inherent rightness or wrongness of actions rather than the consequences. Individuals using deontological reasoning would consider universal moral principles, such as honesty or respect for autonomy, when making ethical decisions. Virtue Ethics: Virtue ethics centers on the development of moral character and emphasizes the importance of virtuous traits and intentions in ethical decision-making. When faced with an ethical dilemma, individuals using this theory would consider which action aligns with virtuous qualities, such as honesty, compassion, or justice.

Film: In the movie "12 Angry Men," a jury must decide the fate of a young man accused of murder. Jurors face an ethical dilemma as they confront their biases, prejudices, and the weight of the evidence, ultimately questioning their responsibility to deliver a just verdict. Literature: In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, the character Atticus Finch faces an ethical dilemma when defending an innocent black man accused of rape in a racially divided society. He confronts the moral choice between upholding justice and challenging deeply ingrained prejudices. Television: The series "The Good Place" revolves around ethical dilemmas and moral philosophy. Characters navigate complex ethical situations as they question the nature of good and bad, exploring themes such as utilitarianism, deontology, and moral relativism.

The topic of ethical dilemmas is crucial to explore and discuss in essays due to its profound impact on individuals, societies, and decision-making processes. Ethical dilemmas present complex situations where individuals face conflicting moral choices, and examining them allows for a deeper understanding of ethical principles, values, and the complexities of human behavior. Writing an essay on ethical dilemmas offers several benefits. Firstly, it encourages critical thinking and ethical reasoning by presenting real or hypothetical scenarios that challenge one's moral compass. It prompts individuals to analyze different perspectives, weigh the consequences of actions, and navigate moral gray areas. Secondly, exploring ethical dilemmas fosters ethical awareness and character development. By examining these dilemmas, individuals gain insights into their own values, biases, and decision-making processes. It promotes self-reflection and the cultivation of moral virtues such as empathy, integrity, and responsibility. Lastly, the topic of ethical dilemmas is relevant to various fields, including medicine, business, law, and technology. Essays on this subject provide an opportunity to explore how ethical frameworks and principles can guide professionals in making ethically sound decisions within their respective domains.

1. Beauchamp, T. L., & Bowie, N. E. (2020). Ethical theory and business (10th ed.). Pearson. 2. Bredeson, D. (2017). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice (10th ed.). Cengage Learning. 3. Davis, M. (2016). Ethics and the university. Routledge. 4. Kidder, R. M. (2005). How good people make tough choices: Resolving the dilemmas of ethical living. Harper Perennial. 5. Lo, B., & Field, M. J. (Eds.). (2009). Conflict of interest in medical research, education, and practice. National Academies Press. 6. May, L., & Vandekerckhove, W. (Eds.). (2019). Routledge handbook of whistleblowing studies. Routledge. 7. Resnik, D. B. (2015). Playing politics with science: Balancing scientific independence and government oversight. Oxford University Press. 8. Singer, P. (2015). Ethics in the real world: 82 brief essays on things that matter. Princeton University Press. 9. Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2020). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (8th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. 10. Velasquez, M. (2018). Business ethics: Concepts and cases. Pearson.

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221 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples

An ethical dilemma essay has become an essential part of education for many professions that involve working with people. Below, we’ve collected topics for writing a paper on this subject.

🏆 Best Ethical Dilemma Essay Examples & Topics

📌 simple & easy ethical dilemma essay topics, 💡 most interesting ethical dilemma topics to write about, 🎓 good research topics about ethical dilemma, ✍️ ethical dilemma essay topics for college, ❓ questions for ethical dilemmas.

The concepts of ethics and moral dilemmas have originated long ago. They heavily influence the process of decision-making in a variety of fields, from social work and healthcare to a simple office workplace. Thus, you have to approach the ethical dilemma topic carefully. Writing a paper on the phenomenon should rely on locating the available evidence and citing the latest sources.

In this article, our team has gathered titles for your academic essay. Besides, with our tips and ethical dilemma paper examples, you will understand how to research and write it.

Emotional intelligence essays are an essential part of education for many professions that involve working with people, such as managers and teachers.

The concept is somewhat new, having been first introduced half a century ago and popularized at the end of the last century.

As such, you have to approach the topic carefully and rely on the latest available evidence to avoid citing outdated ideas.

Furthermore, as with any psychology-related topic, you should exhibit general caution and avoid the numerous pitfalls associated with the study of the human mind.

This article will help you understand what you should or should not do to write an excellent paper.

Here are some further tips for your work:

Psychology relies on scenarios where a person’s behavior can be as free of outside factors as possible. Toddler observation and scholarly experiments with carefully selected conditions are excellent examples of such situations, and you should use them to ground your descriptions in reality.
Be sure to adhere to academic guidelines, avoiding the use of first person, calls to action, and other additions that do not match the format. This approach is useful in general, as it applies to most essays and will be beneficial for future reports and similar submissions.
Write an emotional intelligence essay introduction and conclusion at the end of your paper. They make your work easier to read by giving it structure and direction. The introduction should contain a description of the topic and a thesis statement, and the conclusion should sum up the main points.
Try to set a central theme and address it in your essay instead of providing a general overview of the topic. There are many emotional intelligence essay questions that can be answered in considerable detail. As such, you should concentrate on one of them without getting distracted and sidetracked.

Come to IvyPanda for ethical dilemma essay examples as well as various titles that will help you begin your writing process!

BP Oil Company Ethical Dilemma The damages caused by the spill originated from the effects of the oil on the environment and the damaging effects of the cleanup activities.
An Ethical Dilemma Faced by Nestle: Case Analysis International staffing and development help Nestle to organize human resources in accordance with the needs of the company and its strategic goals.
Ethical Dilemmas in Criminal Justice If one is to discuss the issue with the senior management of the organization in which the crime occurred, there is a high chance that the issue will not be taken as seriously due to […]
Ethical Dilemma: Example, Problem, and Solution | Essay Example Secondly, I was supposed to show other employees that no one is above the policies of this company and if anyone commits a mistake the individual must be punished.
Family Therapy: Ethical Dilemmas One of the ethical dilemmas in the case is that of deciding whether or not to disclose the information about Breen’s relationship with her boyfriend to her parents.
Samsung’s Ethical Dilemma of Child Labor The paper will critically analyze the ethical dimensions of the dilemma from the perspective of the utilitarian ethical theory. It will be argued that according to the fundamental principles of the theory, the company’s behavior […]
Ethical Dilemma of Child Abuse In the above example, a nurse has to apply rational judgment to analyze the extent and threats when making decisions in the best interest of the victim of child abuse.
Richard Angelo: A Serial Killer and His Ethical Dilemma The convicted claimed he made the injections to cause crises to be able to revive patients and become a hero in front of his colleagues.
The Ford Pinto Case and Ethical Dilemma Lee Iacocca, the Ford company’s president, was accused of disregarding the need to improve the safety of Pinto cars due to the increased cost.
Ethical Dilemmas Facing Teachers The proponents of this system claim that it is authentic and offers a first hand experience to the learners. The needs in this system include having a strong foundation in the areas that the knowledge […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Counselling and Treatment Methods The case of Brett has become an ethical issue based on the following; questions are revolving around what information can be released to the parents and parents request to review the diagnosis since no procedure […]
Early Childhood Education Center’s Ethical Dilemma Therefore, it is necessary to involve different people in the discussion of this case because there are several ethical responsibilities applied to a new child, the children of the class, the staff, parents, and the […]
Ethical Dilemma in Nursing: Case Study Today, being a nurse is associated with a number of complexities due to the need to comply with diverse obligations in social, political, and healthcare segments.
Ethical Dilemma: Counselors Engaging in Relations with Clients They should keep a boundary in the way they relate to the clients to ensure that their relationship with the client does no harm or pose potential harm to the clients.
Public Administration Ethical Dilemma and Theories Smith should take the responsibility of ensuring that the needs of the majority are upheld since the welfare of the community, and the organization is of importance.
The Ethical Dilemma: Siemens In relation to the above dilemmas, the bounded bribery applies to the psychological tendency of the conspirators to fulfill selfish interests of self enrichment at the expense of the shareholders’ goals and objectives.
Ethical Dilemmas in Social Workers’ Practice In order to resolve the emerging dilemma, it is necessary to identify the involved stakeholders, model two possible courses of events, evaluate the implications of each and come to a conclusion regarding the preferential option […]
Hyundai Dispatch Workers and Ethical Dilemma According to the workers, the leadership of Hyundai was responsible for the safety of the employees at the workplace. The representatives of the temporary employees occupied the company requiring changes in the employment terms.
The Unocal Firm’s Ethical Dilemma in Burma The oil corporation was eager to investigate oil potential in Burma, a place that the rest of the world had abandoned due to several problems.
Ethical Dilemma in “The Reader” Film by S. Daldry She is surprised and confused by the hypocrisy of the judges and her co-defendants, who act as if they do not remember that period and as if they were not part of that society.
Ethical Dilemma and Environmental Surveillance Companies, for example, Planet Labs and Digital Globe have dispatched many miniaturized satellites in the most recent year with the objective of recording the status of the whole earth in real-time.
Ethical Dilemma in Journalism A good example is the clause in the code of ethics that states that reporters are supposed to show reverence to the privacy and dignity of the public.
Ethical Dilemma of Patient Care Delivery However, the administration of more pain depressants is likely to escalate the addiction problem while the denial of the medication will aggravate the patient’s suffering.
Ethical Dilemmas Within Organisations During the COVID-19 The moral analysis of the acts of the management of Britannia Hotel can also be analyzed based on the ethics of duties with an emphasis on the individual.
“Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice” by Pollock If hunting is the primary means of survival of a particular society, the euthanasia of the elderly and the sick can be deemed acceptable.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” and Major Ethical Dilemmas Raised Some claim that since clones are created in a laboratory with the help of specific tools and with the number of certain genes, they cannot be regarded as humans. In conclusion, it is necessary to […]
Global Poverty: The Ethical Dilemma Unfortunately, a significant obstacle to such global reforms is that many economic systems are based on the concept of inequality and exploitation.
Ethical Dilemmas in Workplace Analysis Therefore, the main purpose of this project is to explore the types of dilemmas and the factors that affect the workers response to the dilemmas in a workplace.
Cultural Clash in the Board Room: An Ethical Dilemma Among Top Management in Almond China The first option he has is to resign from the company because he says that one of the reasons that motivated him to join the company is the values and standards the company up holds.
Workplace Health & Safety: The Ethical Dilemmas In addition, this paper focuses on the theoretical framework of the ethical dilemmas of the employers about workplace environment, and the activities of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Domestic Violence Ethical Dilemmas in Criminal Justice Various ethical issues such as the code of silence, the mental status of the offender, and limited evidence play a vital role in challenging the discretion of police officers in arresting the DV perpetrators.
Ethical Dilemma Analysis: Easyriders v. Hannigan Hunnigan represents the case of California motorcyclists filing a suit against the Commissioner of California Highway Patrol for the purpose of permanent injunction against stopping motorcyclists on the ground of officer’s subjective opinion that helmets […]
Journalism Ethical Dilemma: Moral Discourse This situation resulted in an ethical dilemma for the journalist who has to decide whether to publish the article about the accident and potentially dangerous products or to take the money and remain silent.
Ethical Dilemma- The Fate of Opel Foreign direct investment has a number of benefits to the economy of the host countries. In case the host countries do not have adequate labor necessary in the accomplishment of organizational goals, the multinational companies […]
Decision Making Challenges Facing Ethical Dilemma In the same way the performance of line managers is judged by the quality of the decisions they make. From the management of Herbs garden products, the following steps could be taken: State the problem […]
Ethical Dilemmas: An Analysis of Two Cases In the case of IVF, such a procedure is prohibited according to Joe and Mary’s religion which means that they must not engage in it.
Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Self-Driving Cars The video taken showed that the driver in the car was shocked and could not do anything to save the woman.
Abortion: An Ethical Dilemma and Legal Position The core concerns in the controversy are whether women should have the right to decide to terminate a pregnancy or whether the unborn child has the right to life.
Abortion: Ethical Dilemma in Pope John Paul II’s View This paper tries to examine the abortion ethical dilemma from the lens of the Pope’s thoughts and proposals. Towards the end of the 20th century, new ideas and thoughts began to emerge in different parts […]
Ethical Dilemma With the Bank Teller On the other hand, the bank calls for honesty in service and client protection, and given that the teller took the money without permission from an inactive account belonging to a customer it is professionally […]
Ethical Dilemma of Law Enforcement Code of Ethics Police officers are the example for citizens of the country which they serve, and they should correspond to the position which is occupied.
Post-Dated Cheque Ethical Dilemma in Accounting First, the recipients of the delayed check will lose interest corresponding to the duration of the delay. In this scenario, Tabitha will be held responsible for the unethical actions and the incurrence of losses by […]
Ethical Dilemmas in the “21” Movie At the beginning of the movie, we mistakenly take his attitude for granted, but the development of the plot discloses the negative consequences of the Professor’s actions.
Patient’s Secret Revelation: Ethical Dilemma She had to choose whether to hide the information, which she had received from a cancer patient and which was relevant to the treatment, from other nurses and doctors or to reveal it despite the […]
Solving Ethical Dilemmas in Public Relations In the case study, the main problem arises from the client’s deceit concerning the independent nature of the scientist testing the products in a bid to ensure a favorable public image of the products to […]
Drug-Testing: Utilitarian Theory Ethical Dilemma This is because, given the fact that Utilitarian theory’s foremost theoretical premise is being concerned with the notion of amaximization of benefits’ 1, it will only be logical, on my part, to assume that the […]
Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare Administration Ethical concerns root for the distinction and separation of clinical ethics and business ethics in order to avoid complications of the responsibilities in the health care system.
Ethical Dilemma in Law Enforcement: Confidentiality and Misuse of Information Additionally, Badpenny’s choice to reveal private information was affected by the organizational structure of the University City Police Department and the Grantham County Sheriff’s Office.
Ethical Dilemma of Stopping City Authority In this scenario, the ethical dilemma is balancing the duty to enforce the law with the potential harm that could be caused by a public arrest of a fellow officer.
Ethical Dilemma Analysis: Criminal Justice Case The publicity of the case added another layer of complexity to the decision, as either verdict would alienate a part of the population.
The Ethical Dilemma of Navigating Disagreements in Nursing Care Disputes arise when nurses have different opinions on the type, frequency, and effectiveness of specific care options for a patient due to the differences in their scope of practice and focus.
Ethical Dilemma in Healthcare: Privacy and the Right to Know Moreover, the staff cannot ignore the fact that Tina is likely to be wrong in her decision not to reveal the diagnosis to Victoria.
Ethical Dilemmas Regarding Rape and Abortion Therefore, this paper discusses the module 8 case study and related cases regarding rape and abortion, applying dialectical thinking to the module 8 case and why Mary in the case study should not undergo abortion […]
Hiring the Previously Convicted Cybercriminals: Ethical Dilemma The deontological theory focuses not on the consequences of an act but on the intentions and desire of a person to act for the benefit of others.
Ethical Dilemmas Hindering Provision of Health Services in Tanzania The strikes have always been linked to two issues: 1) the working conditions of doctors, including infrastructure, the availability of medicines, equipment, and other medical supplies, and 2) the underpayment of wages and benefits.
Analysis of Ethical Dilemma: Euthanasia One of these is the right to live, which includes much more than the ability to simply exist, and suggests an adherence to a minimum of quality and self-determination.
Researching of IT Ethical Dilemmas In addition, there are Notified Data Breach Laws that oblige businesses and CSPs to report the incident to the government and all users of the service and customers in the event of a data breach.
The Legal and Ethical Dilemma in Dental Health The objective side of the crime in the case of silencing the incompetence of a colleague in dentistry is expressed in the failure to fulfill the duties of the statement to the appropriate authorities.
An Ethical Dilemma and Lapse in Business An ethical dilemma and lapse differ in the people’s motivation driving decisions. Meanwhile, an ethical lapse occurs due to an unethical conversation involving selective quoting and misleading audiences.
Ethical Dilemmas: Cases Analysis In the case of Joe and Marie, natural law theory also demonstrates that ethically the IVF procedure is morally justified for several reasons.
Ethical Dilemma of Parental Refusal From Children’s Vaccination Kerry attempts to convince the Smiths of the relevance of vaccination in preventing infection by chronic diseases. Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are ethical principles applicable in resolving the moral issue of whether or not […]
Ethical Dilemma of Saving Customers’ Personal Information The key point of the action was to be in line with the company’s code of ethics and, at the same time, show the wrongdoing of the colleague’s action to himself.
Truth vs. Loyalty: Tinkov’s Ethical Dilemma Moreover, his pacifist text and critique of the Russian aggression and dictatorship made Tinkov’s life unsafe. He chose truthfulness and freedom from greed over political loyalty and the well-being of his business.
Ethical Dilemma: Gun Violence Discussion The teaching of access or locked on the presence of weapons in people for a long time is a reason for discussion.
Legal-Ethical Dilemma in Nursing An example of an urgent legal-ethical dilemma is the one reported and described by a practicing nurse and a patient, Marylyn.
Ethical Dilemma of a 2016 TV Commercial for Milk by Juhayna At the end of the ad, the creators claim that Juhayna’s milk is the best in Egypt after Dondou. The message presented in the advertisement can influence the decision of mothers to stop breastfeeding, which […]
Nurses’ Ethical Dilemmas in the Work Environment According to the scenario of Mr. According to the scenario of Mr.
Ethical Dilemma: The Missing Needle Protector Health care professionals and patients have to develop a level of trust to support the recovery process for patients and the status of the hospital.
The Concept of Ethical Dilemmas To evaluate this, such professionals should be subject to constant psychological and physical monitoring, observing the degree of their suitability for work.
Ethical Dilemma of Abortion Triumphalism In this issue and other matters, the affected person’s experience may not be a determining factor for the expression of opinion but is unique.
Self-Determination and Ethical Dilemma of Assisted Suicide The reason for both euthanasia and assisted suicide, the difference between which is in who actively ends the life, the doctor or the patient, is ending unbearable pain.
Ethical Dilemma Regarding Forced Vaccination It seems that people are already used to restrictive measures from the government and have accepted the need to use masks in public places, but the introduction of compulsory vaccination and the resulting bans proved […]
Ethical Dilemma: The Case Study Thus, a difficult dilemma emerged for Ali, who by eating the meal would violate his religious obligations and by refusing it would show disrespect to the hosts, and especially the mother of the colleague.
Ethical Dilemmas in Public Health Such an action could be unwelcomed by the health agencies, and their employees, but, at the same time, the research needs to depict an accurate analysis of the performance of the health programs.
The Ethical Dilemma in Guantanamo Bay Prison in the USA In Guantanamo Bay, it is the role of soldiers to ensure justice and protection of human rights. However, the housing of these prisoners and the condition of the Guantanamo Bay detainee camp is ethical.
Ethical Dilemma and Ethics and Honest Reporting And adhering to the principle of rights, professions have an ethical duty to evaluate the consequences of a particular decision they make in relation to the rights of other people.
The Ethical Dilemma on Abortion From the perspective of the Christian philosophy, a person is a product and manifestation of the love of God, hence the sanctity of any human life.
Ethical Dilemma at Abura Petrol Station He felt grateful to his friend for offering a job and wanted to meet the hopes of the petrol network’s owner.
Civil-Military Tension as Ethical Dilemma The first is to accept the situation as it is without questions, strictly following the orders and observing the limitations of their inferior position as consultants to the government.
Aspects of Media Ethical Dilemmas While all three sources have a goal of informing the audience of Burrous’s passing, the extent to which they unveil the details differs depending on the context, the source’s relation to the anchor, and the […]
Ethical Dilemma: Benefiting from High-Conflicting Personality The primary reason for the potential ignorance of one’s wrongdoing is the positive consequences of their actions that outweigh the total harm they bring.
Ethical Dilemma. Legal Protection for Employee On the other hand, the leaving colleague might have a change of heart and remain with the original company, so revealing the plans to the boss will affect his opportunities.
Abortion as Moral and Ethical Dilemma Despite the conflicting approaches to solving the moral and ethical dilemma of abortion, experts agree that it is possible to reduce the severity of the problem with the help of more excellent sexual education of […]
“Ethical Dilemmas in MNCs’ International Staffing Policies” by Banai and Sama The paper assumes that in the age of the rise of global international corporations international staffing policies acquire the top priority because of their impact on outcomes.
Contemporary Ethical Reflection: Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Health Care The counties also blamed the state for being ignorant of the problem of adequate financing of the Medicaid program on supporting the poor and disables.
Ethical Dilemmas in the Hiibel Legal Case in Nevada The search had a reasonable suspicion since, during the investigation of the assault, Hiibel was within the area of search, and when he was asked his name, he failed to answer the police officer.
Baby and Mother: End of Life Ethical Dilemma To sum the above mentioned, it should be mentioned that patients, physicians, and caregivers face a lot of dilemmas in regards to life situations.
Unethical Practices: Michael Jackson, Ethical Dilemma The case between the people and the king of pop, Michael Jackson, elicited two main ethical concerns: the passion of the prosecutor to convict the defendant and the possibility of the prosecutor to be an […]
Noting the Error in Projections: Scott Bestor’s Ethical Dilemma The second ethical issue is balancing the expectations of the management and the consequences of reporting the error in projections. Scott is aware that reporting the error to the management might result in disciplinary action […]
Behavior of a Police Officer Within an Ethical Dilemma First and foremost, one should note that one of the most typical ethical concerns in the relevant field is the cases of discrimination on the ground of the national origin.
Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Practice The psychologist can help the patient deal with the emotional aspect of pain. These skills empower the patient to cope with the pain and the side effects of treatment.
Accounting: Ethical Dilemmas Equally, I will consider the repercussions of agreeing to the command. I will also consider being a whistleblower and report the matter to the relevant authorities.
The Ethical Dilemma in Nursing One of the most common ethical dilemmas that advanced practice nurses face is the lack of consent on the part of the patient.
Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Finding a solution to the ethical issues in Max’s case was important because failure to do so would have different consequences for the patient, the parents, and the caregivers.
Moral, Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Suicide Since it is a duty of medical practitioners to treat and care for patients, it would be immoral to allow a patient to commit suicide.
Asthma and Medications: The Ethical Dilemma in Treating Children One of the major causes of dilemma, however, is the inability to manage and treat the condition in children under the age of 7 years due to ethical dilemma.
Ethical and Moral Dilemmas in Accounting and Business Entities This may paint a wrong picture of the actual position of the company and may lead to collapsing if irregularities are not addressed as in the case of Enron.
An Ethical Dilemma – Religious Belief Versus Medical Practice In the first step, the ethical dilemma is between the principle of beneficence in the treatment of meningitis and the principle of autonomy with respect to the decision of the parents.
Ethical Dilemma for Sam Torres In this case, it is possible to distinguish several ethical issues: 1) the conflict between Sam’s professional principles and his private interest such as desire to retain his job; 2) the interests of Bull & […]
Ethical Dilemmas That Practitioners Face in the Company According to the findings of the commission, it was discovered that ethical issues affecting the police body has to do with process corruption, issue of gratuities and improper associations, substance abuse, fraudulent practices, assaults and […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Business Processes Henry on the other hand is a manager and we are not told whether his organization is prepared to allow all staff to make use of such offers as that which Claire has provided in […]
Virtue Ethics: One Way to Resolve an Ethical Dilemma Other members of the usability team argue that although there was a clear loophole that the external members can choose to exploit so that they can be released from the work that they need to […]
Ethical Dilemma: Parental Notification The main issue that is to be addressed is that the boy asks the counselor not to notify his parents about the drug problem, but is it ethical to keep this information confidential?
LinkedIn Ethical Dilemma The candidates most likely to be recruited by the employers using the LinkedIn website are the premium account holders whose applications appear at the top of the applications pile.
The Ethical Dilemma: Aborting Babies With Handicaps The standard for such a condition is the elimination of the fetus and the doctor prescribed it as the only solution that would save the other of the twins.
NASW Code of Ethics: Social Workers and Ethical Dilemmas As part of my action, I accessed her files and changed the date that she was to leave the facility by adding a month to it. However, I had acted professionally because it was in […]
Ethical Dilemmas Overview and Analysis This student should be advised to report the matter to a teacher so that the owner of the iPod can be traced.
Resolving Ethical Dilemmas Considering that this may be an argument between younger and older generations, one can argue that there is a significant difference between the way that both house owners and the person that wants to buy […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Mental Health Treatment Treatment of inmates with psychological problems is a delicate and sensitive process because such inmates are not in the normal state to reason.
Empress Luxury Lines: Ethical Dilemma The dilemma infringes on Antonio’s principles and values because he thinks that the conduct of the company is not by the insurance company’s policies and principles and that, the management team should face the law.
The Ethical Dilemma by Pureco Corporation As the Pureco manager, I have the obligation of maximizing the stakeholders’ welfare, and considering that the company had already invested quite a huge sum of money in the establishment and marketing of the Newpen […]
The Ethical Dilemma of Practicing Psychology of Acceptable Training At first blush, many people will probably agree that this additional element is the collection of moral principles and values of what is right and what is wrong and what is good and what is […]
Ethical Dilemma Concepts on Example Phoebe’s Case In order to protect her rights, the council should not interfere with her applications on the basis of what Phoebe did. In addition to punishment, she should be made to repeat the assignment and submit […]
Ethical Dilemmas: Morgan Brown Real Estate Company In the case of the latter ethical dilemma, it would be more effective and honest for this particular company to accept the fact that favouring one client over the other could lead to a tarnished […]
Possible Solutions to the Ethical Dilemmas This varied, different group of the workforce is being required to work harmoniously jointly in the strength of teamwork and respect for the advantage of the company and the public they deal with.
The Tobacco Marketing Ethical Dilemma The epidemiological evidence of the deadly tobacco effect in 1964 set the precedence for the mistrust between the tobacco production stakeholders and the public interest groups, that has led to long battle between the two […]
Organ Donation: Ethical Dilemmas An example of an ethical dilemma surrounding the procedure is the case of rich man vs.poor man, or rather, the case of a person who can afford to buy an organ on the black market […]
Aging and Cultural Diversity: Ethical Dilemmas Indeed, however absurd it may sound at first, this reading is right in pointing out that aging and cultural diversity do relate to each other and form a single concept relative to the formation of […]
Ethical Dilemma in Teacher Career One was the departmental association vice president and the professor in the university; he was also the advisor of a student that had a hard relationship with one’s colleague the professor of physics.
Dementia: Ethical Dilemmas Opting to withdraw the tube may lead to the physiological deprivation of the patient and as a result, the worst-case scenario is the death of the patient.
Ethical Dilemma: Solving a Situation, Decision Theory Under business ethics, this is a form of art which is said to examine the ethical principles or even the moral problems which might tend to occur as a result of running the business and […]
Ethical Dilemma in the Psychologists Career Therefore, the dilemma that I faced as a school psychologist dealing with the psychological issues of Ayesha has been the ethical choice needed to be taken between what is good and what is wrong that […]
Ethical Dilemma in Mental Health Patient Care My ethical response to the situation was that Catherine should only be attended to by the female staff especially when she was naked and that only the female staff needed to have access to the […]
The Acme Title Pawn Employee’s Ethical Dilemma While the situation is controversial, it can be stated that Joe should change the workplace and explain to his family the reasons for such a decision.
Ethical Dilemmas in the Nursing Field As a human, I felt that the safety of the lady took precedence; hence I could not allow her to walk alone. As a nurse leader, I would encourage my staff to always put the […]
Google Inc.’s Historical Ethical Dilemmas It is sad to say that various forms of unethical behavior are common in the workforce, and specific analysis is required to determine the impact of this phenomenon on the business industry.
Performance-Enhancing Drugs Use as Ethical Dilemma According to Christian beliefs, Paul should refuse to partake in the team’s abuse of PEDs because it offers him and his teammates an unfair advantage over other athletes.
Medical Ethical Dilemmas: Taking a Stand Morality is the idea of correctness and rightness that is constructed on people’s experiences and applied to the life of society.
Joe Smith and Bill Bateman: Ethical Dilemma Analysis Indeed, their cooperation is attributed with the features of gray zone business conduct where the boundaries between the personal and the business issues are blurred.
Ethical Advertising: Dilemmas and Resolutions One of the core aspects that should not be overlooked is that the number of competitors is going to increase significantly, and it is entirely possible that the company will suffer because of such policies.
Wasta (Nepotism) Ethical Dilemma at the Workplace Moreover, with the present social costs in our society that have arisen through the use of wasta, it is impossible to justify the use of wasta in hiring and performing business transactions.
The Ethical Dilemma: Case of Chantu The ethical dilemma in the case of Chant is that her father wants her to leave school to manage the house and look after her three siblings.
Ethical Dilemma on the Company Valuation Mistake I could inform my team and the company boards of the said mistake; I could inform the team but keep the company in the dark, or I could ignore the mistake altogether.
Flight 93 Incident and Ethical Dilemma This paper evaluates the ethical standing of this question from a utilitarian point of view to establish the rightness or wrongness of the decision to shoot down the plane before it crashed.
Police Corruption and Citizen’s Ethical Dilemma There are three key stakeholders in the given situation, which are the policemen, who set the terms; the father, who is to take the pivoting decision; and the family, who depends on the decision which […]
Poverty in America: An Ethical Dilemma In contrast, a considerable percentage of the populations believe the society has the moral obligation to eradicate poverty, and thus, they hold the view that the solution to poverty reduction lies in the socioeconomic policies.
Ethical Dilemma Involving a Social Worker As a social worker, I have to decide whether to support the community group, which is unanimously opposed to the decision of the housing authorities to rent to the local mental health department to establish […]
Women’s Ethical Dilemma in the United States Army I had wanted to demonstrate to girls in schools across the country that it is possible for a woman to succeed in the American military. One of the greatest principles I have embraced in my […]
Environmental Protection Agency’s Ethical Dilemma It is trying to find ways of meeting the demands of the new administration but in a way that will not compromise the need to protect the environment.
Physician-Assisted Dying: Legal and Ethical Dilemma The case study relates to the right of a patient to die in various ways. To begin with, terminally ill people have the right to choose whether to live, or be allowed to pass on.
Suicidal Ideation as Ethical Dilemma in Nursing According to the ethical guidelines that govern the profession of a nurse and other health care providers, their primary role is to protect life by enhancing the status of wellness of the patient.
California Micro Devices Company: Ethical Dilemma In 1989, Price Waterhouse, the firm’s chief auditor, observed that the company was engaging in questionable accounting practices and business dealings.
Ethical Dilemma & Glyphosate: Post Foods Company In this case, some experts believe that it is a vivid instance of the unethical business practices, as Post Foods’s consumers do not expect to find any pesticides in the products that are overtly advertised […]
ProTech Company’s Ethical Dilemma According to the analysis of the data performed by Staci, the company seems to be having a high potential for growth over the next half-decade.
Ethical Dilemma in Business Communication Today This paper explores this dilemma in terms of the extent to which a firm may abide by the ethical provisions against the backdrop of the heightening competition.
Arranged Marriage and Its Ethical Dilemma His family would be happy to see him married to the person they chose, and his father would save his reputation.
Ethical Dilemma: Swimming Pool Building This is evident when the contractor conducts the private work of the mayor without any delay, as well as the birthday gift that the contractor advances to the mayor as a friend.
Ethical Dilemmas in Prison’s Research The present paper aims to discuss the applicability of confidentiality and privacy provisions to prison research by addressing both the general rules regarding confidentiality of information in research and the specific considerations that apply to […]
The Right to Die: Legal and Ethical Dilemma Consequently, the primary goal of the paper is to discover the freedoms of a patient, specifically, the right to die with the help of a controversial and confusing case of Mrs.
Teacher’s Ethical Dilemma and Legal Responsibilities However, she is legally obligated not to leak exams to her students in any way because that would defeat the very purpose of the exams.
A Compliance Officer Ethical Dilemma According to the compliance officer that was interviewed for this project, the SMAA program anticipated the high cost or unnecessary expenditures that are going to affect the reimbursement process if the physicians and other health […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Professional Psychology In this case, it is essential that he explains to the client the legal consequences he will face should it be discovered that he is having a social relationship with her.
HBOS Plc Company’s Ethical Dilemma The ethical dilemma in the case is that the top management of the company used complex nature of the financial statements and the weaknesses in the accounting standards to manipulate the financial records with an […]
Employee’s Role in Ethical Dilemma Jan is aware of the possible layoffs at JLT that could affect Steve, and she knows the expenses that Steve, unaware of the resolution by the leadership, is about to make in building a house […]
Ethical Dilemma: Political Involvement in Abortion The development of medicine brought the issue to the fore in the late 19th century. Therefore, it is but natural that it is the right of a woman to make the choice.
Nuclear Waste Management Ethical Dilemmas However, the creation of energy through nuclear reactions leads to the production of radioactive by-products that are dangerous to the environment.
KLM Company Responsibilities Ethical Dilemma To ensure that the expansion plan remained alive, the director suggested that a small team of employees should be a commission to start surveying the new market to identify the location where the firm would […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Healthcare Institutions The interviewee outlined the major strategies used to handle ethical dilemmas in the healthcare facility. The supervisor will be required to assess the impact of the ethical or legal dilemma.
Medical Error Disclosure: Ethical Dilemma The topic in question was chosen due to the obvious conflict between the interests of the patient and the population, in general, which medical ethics supposedly protects, and the interests of the provider, who is […]
Ethical Dilemmas in Rural Communities The fact that the rural area is different from the urban one has resulted in the creation of rural criminology. The ethical dilemmas that can arise in the process of working in rural areas for […]
Ethical Dilemma in the Workplace
SuperCom Company Ethical Dilemma
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“Erin Brockovich” Movie Ethical Dilemma
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Engineers and Ethical Dilemmas
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Huntington’s Disease and Ethics
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Discussing an Ethical Dilemma
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Role of Codes of Conduct in Child Labour Practice
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A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Ethics Resources

This document is designed as an introduction to thinking ethically. Read more about what the framework can (and cannot) do .

We all have an image of our better selves—of how we are when we act ethically or are “at our best.” We probably also have an image of what an ethical community, an ethical business, an ethical government, or an ethical society should be. Ethics really has to do with all these levels—acting ethically as individuals, creating ethical organizations and governments, and making our society as a whole more ethical in the way it treats everyone.

What is Ethics?

Ethics refers to standards and practices that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves—as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, professionals, and so on. Ethics is also concerned with our character. It requires knowledge, skills, and habits.

It is helpful to identify what ethics is NOT:

Ethics is not the same as feelings . Feelings do provide important information for our ethical choices. However, while some people have highly developed habits that make them feel bad when they do something wrong, others feel good even though they are doing something wrong. And, often, our feelings will tell us that it is uncomfortable to do the right thing if it is difficult.
Ethics is not the same as religion . Many people are not religious but act ethically, and some religious people act unethically. Religious traditions can, however, develop and advocate for high ethical standards, such as the Golden Rule.
Ethics is not the same thing as following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but law can deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt—a function of power alone and designed to serve the interests of narrow groups. Law may also have a difficult time designing or enforcing standards in some important areas and may be slow to address new problems.
Ethics is not the same as following culturally accepted norms . Cultures can include both ethical and unethical customs, expectations, and behaviors. While assessing norms, it is important to recognize how one’s ethical views can be limited by one’s own cultural perspective or background, alongside being culturally sensitive to others.
Ethics is not science . Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make better and more informed ethical choices. But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do. Some things may be scientifically or technologically possible and yet unethical to develop and deploy.

Six Ethical Lenses

If our ethical decision-making is not solely based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, then on what basis can we decide between right and wrong, good and bad? Many philosophers, ethicists, and theologians have helped us answer this critical question. They have suggested a variety of different lenses that help us perceive ethical dimensions. Here are six of them:

The Rights Lens

Some suggest that the ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. This approach starts from the belief that humans have a dignity based on their human nature per se or on their ability to choose freely what they do with their lives. On the basis of such dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends in themselves and not merely as means to other ends. The list of moral rights—including the rights to make one's own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy, and so on—is widely debated; some argue that non-humans have rights, too. Rights are also often understood as implying duties—in particular, the duty to respect others' rights and dignity.

( For further elaboration on the rights lens, please see our essay, “Rights.” )

The Justice Lens

Justice is the idea that each person should be given their due, and what people are due is often interpreted as fair or equal treatment. Equal treatment implies that people should be treated as equals according to some defensible standard such as merit or need, but not necessarily that everyone should be treated in the exact same way in every respect. There are different types of justice that address what people are due in various contexts. These include social justice (structuring the basic institutions of society), distributive justice (distributing benefits and burdens), corrective justice (repairing past injustices), retributive justice (determining how to appropriately punish wrongdoers), and restorative or transformational justice (restoring relationships or transforming social structures as an alternative to criminal punishment).

( For further elaboration on the justice lens, please see our essay, “Justice and Fairness.” )

The Utilitarian Lens

Some ethicists begin by asking, “How will this action impact everyone affected?”—emphasizing the consequences of our actions. Utilitarianism, a results-based approach, says that the ethical action is the one that produces the greatest balance of good over harm for as many stakeholders as possible. It requires an accurate determination of the likelihood of a particular result and its impact. For example, the ethical corporate action, then, is the one that produces the greatest good and does the least harm for all who are affected—customers, employees, shareholders, the community, and the environment. Cost/benefit analysis is another consequentialist approach.

( For further elaboration on the utilitarian lens, please see our essay, “Calculating Consequences.” )

The Common Good Lens

According to the common good approach, life in community is a good in itself and our actions should contribute to that life. This approach suggests that the interlocking relationships of society are the basis of ethical reasoning and that respect and compassion for all others—especially the vulnerable—are requirements of such reasoning. This approach also calls attention to the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone—such as clean air and water, a system of laws, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public educational system, or even public recreational areas. Unlike the utilitarian lens, which sums up and aggregates goods for every individual, the common good lens highlights mutual concern for the shared interests of all members of a community.

( For further elaboration on the common good lens, please see our essay, “The Common Good.” )

The Virtue Lens

A very ancient approach to ethics argues that ethical actions ought to be consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for the full development of our humanity. These virtues are dispositions and habits that enable us to act according to the highest potential of our character and on behalf of values like truth and beauty. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues. Virtue ethics asks of any action, “What kind of person will I become if I do this?” or “Is this action consistent with my acting at my best?”

( For further elaboration on the virtue lens, please see our essay, “Ethics and Virtue.” )

The Care Ethics Lens

Care ethics is rooted in relationships and in the need to listen and respond to individuals in their specific circumstances, rather than merely following rules or calculating utility. It privileges the flourishing of embodied individuals in their relationships and values interdependence, not just independence. It relies on empathy to gain a deep appreciation of the interest, feelings, and viewpoints of each stakeholder, employing care, kindness, compassion, generosity, and a concern for others to resolve ethical conflicts. Care ethics holds that options for resolution must account for the relationships, concerns, and feelings of all stakeholders. Focusing on connecting intimate interpersonal duties to societal duties, an ethics of care might counsel, for example, a more holistic approach to public health policy that considers food security, transportation access, fair wages, housing support, and environmental protection alongside physical health.

( For further elaboration on the care ethics lens, please see our essay, “Care Ethics.” )

Using the Lenses

Each of the lenses introduced above helps us determine what standards of behavior and character traits can be considered right and good. There are still problems to be solved, however.

The first problem is that we may not agree on the content of some of these specific lenses. For example, we may not all agree on the same set of human and civil rights. We may not agree on what constitutes the common good. We may not even agree on what is a good and what is a harm.

The second problem is that the different lenses may lead to different answers to the question “What is ethical?” Nonetheless, each one gives us important insights in the process of deciding what is ethical in a particular circumstance.

Making Decisions

Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that should impact our choice of a course of action. Having a method for ethical decision-making is essential. When practiced regularly, the method becomes so familiar that we work through it automatically without consulting the specific steps.

The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by careful exploration of the problem, aided by the insights and different perspectives of others, can we make good ethical choices in such situations.

The following framework for ethical decision-making is intended to serve as a practical tool for exploring ethical dilemmas and identifying ethical courses of action.

Identify the Ethical Issues

Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to some group, or unevenly beneficial to people? Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two “goods” or between two “bads”?
Is this issue about more than solely what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?

Get the Facts

What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?
What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are the concerns of some of those individuals or groups more important? Why?
What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been consulted? Have I identified creative options?

Evaluate Alternative Actions

Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights Lens)
Which option treats people fairly, giving them each what they are due? (The Justice Lens)
Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm for as many stakeholders as possible? (The Utilitarian Lens)
Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members? (The Common Good Lens)
Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue Lens)
Which option appropriately takes into account the relationships, concerns, and feelings of all stakeholders? (The Care Ethics Lens)

Choose an Option for Action and Test It

After an evaluation using all of these lenses, which option best addresses the situation?
If I told someone I respect (or a public audience) which option I have chosen, what would they say?
How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?

Implement Your Decision and Reflect on the Outcome

How did my decision turn out, and what have I learned from this specific situation? What (if any) follow-up actions should I take?

This framework for thinking ethically is the product of dialogue and debate at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Primary contributors include Manuel Velasquez, Dennis Moberg, Michael J. Meyer, Thomas Shanks, Margaret R. McLean, David DeCosse, Claire André, Kirk O. Hanson, Irina Raicu, and Jonathan Kwan. It was last revised on November 5, 2021.

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BMC Med Ethics

Defining ethical challenge(s) in healthcare research: a rapid review

Guy schofield.

1 Centre for Ethics in Medicine, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS UK

3 Palliative and End of Life Care Research Group, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS UK

Mariana Dittborn

2 Paediatric Bioethics Centre, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, WC1N 3JH UK

Lucy Ellen Selman

Richard huxtable, associated data.

All data is presented in this manuscript.

Despite its ubiquity in academic research, the phrase ‘ethical challenge(s)’ appears to lack an agreed definition. A lack of a definition risks introducing confusion or avoidable bias. Conceptual clarity is a key component of research, both theoretical and empirical. Using a rapid review methodology, we sought to review definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ and closely related terms as used in current healthcare research literature.

Rapid review to identify peer-reviewed reports examining ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in any context, extracting data on definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in use, and synonymous use of closely related terms in the general manuscript text. Data were analysed using content analysis. Four databases (MEDLINE, Philosopher’s Index, EMBASE, CINAHL) were searched from April 2016 to April 2021.

393 records were screened, with 72 studies eligible and included: 53 empirical studies, 17 structured reviews and 2 review protocols. 12/72 (17%) contained an explicit definition of ‘ethical challenge(s), two of which were shared, resulting in 11 unique definitions. Within these 11 definitions, four approaches were identified: definition through concepts; reference to moral conflict, moral uncertainty or difficult choices; definition by participants; and challenges linked to emotional or moral distress. Each definition contained one or more of these approaches, but none contained all four. 68/72 (94%) included studies used terms closely related to synonymously refer to ‘ethical challenge(s)’ within their manuscript text, with 32 different terms identified and between one and eight different terms mentioned per study.

Conclusions

Only 12/72 studies contained an explicit definition of ‘ethical challenge(s)’, with significant variety in scope and complexity. This variation risks confusion and biasing data analysis and results, reducing confidence in research findings. Further work on establishing acceptable definitional content is needed to inform future bioethics research.

Methodological rigour within research is a cornerstone in the production of high-quality findings and recommendations. Across the range of empirical methodologies, a broad collection of protocol development tools, methodology guidelines, and reporting guidelines have been developed and evidence of their use is increasingly required by journals [ 1 – 6 ]. Within both empirical bioethics and descriptive ethics, there has been an accompanying increase in the acknowledgment of the importance of methodological rigour in the empirical elements, including within the recent consensus statement on quality standards in empirical bioethics research by Ives et al. [ 7 – 9 ]. Aligned with this aim for rigour, definitional clarity of key terms used within a research project is a component of research quality [ 10 , 11 ]. Improving the quality of empirical bioethics is also itself an ethical imperative [ 9 ].

We recently conducted a systematic review examining ‘ethical challenges’ as reported by specialist palliative care practitioners [ 12 ]. Our review, alongside our initial scoping search findings and reading of the literature, suggested that, although many authors use the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in empirical ethics research, there appeared to be no commonly described or accepted definition. Furthermore, papers retrieved rarely defined ‘ethical challenge(s)’ explicitly , which has also been noted by other researchers examining other topic areas [ 13 – 15 ]. Our review further suggested that authors frequently use terms closely related to ‘ethical challenge(s)’—such as ‘moral dilemmas’ or ‘ethical issues’—interchangeably with ‘ethical challenge(s)’ throughout manuscripts, rather than staying with the original term. Research shows that non-philosophers may understand these related terms in heterogeneous ways which may additionally affect understanding of texts across different readerships [ 16 , 17 ].

Without a clear definition of an ethical challenge, each researcher must use individual judgement to ascertain whether they have identified an instance of one within their dataset. This potentially generates an unnecessary source of bias, particularly if multiple researchers are involved in data collection, extraction, or analysis. This risks generating misleading ethical analyses, evaluations, or recommendations. Additionally, and more broadly, if primary studies do not define the term, then work based on these—such as systematic reviews of individual studies or those undertaking secondary data analysis—may unknowingly compare different phenomena without a mechanism for mitigating the effects this introduces.

In the hope of prompting a debate on this topic, we therefore undertook a rapid review, which aimed to explore existing definitions of “ethical challenge(s)” and the use of other closely related terms within recent empirical healthcare ethics literature.

We conducted a rapid review examining the usage of the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ over the last 5 years in published research articles, in order to identify and summarise if, and how, the term was defined. As a secondary aim, we examined authors’ uses of closely related alternative terms within the included article texts separate to their use within any explicit definitions that may be present.

Rapid reviews use abridged systematic review methodology to understand the evidence base on a particular topic in a time and resource efficient manner [ 18 – 22 ]. Comparative reviews of topics in which both a rapid review and a systematic review had been undertaken demonstrated that the overall conclusions were similar, although rapid reviews were less likely to contain social and economic data, and systematic reviews contained more detailed recommendations [ 18 – 20 , 23 , 24 ]. The Cochrane Rapid Review Methods Group has recently released interim methodological guidelines for undertaking rapid reviews [ 6 ], advising authors to describe where their protocol deviates from a systematic review and detail any biases that these deviations may introduce [ 18 , 19 , 21 ]. We have followed the Cochrane recommended methodology [ 6 ]. A rapid review reporting guideline is currently under development [ 25 ] and this review is therefore reported based on the PRISMA 2020 statement for systematic reviews, with justifications provided where our approach deviated [ 26 ].

Prospective review protocol registration on the PROSPERO database is the current gold standard, but, at the time of writing, PROSPERO does not accept records for rapid reviews [ 27 ]. The protocol was therefore not published in advance.

Eligibility criteria

The inclusion and exclusion criteria are summarised in Table Table1. 1 . We used Strech et al.’s Methodology, Issues, Participants (MIP) structure for our eligibility criteria, which is recommended for systematic reviews in ‘empirical bioethics’ [ 28 ]. The criteria reflect three assumptions. First, that the inclusion of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in the title would increase the likelihood that this was the authors’ preferred term for the concept under investigation, and therefore increase the probability of a definition being provided. Second, that studies aiming to describe empirical data and identify ethical challenges in real-world contexts are most likely to contain a definition to guide researchers in identifying these challenges as they collect and analyse data. Third, that structured reviews of studies of ethical challenges are likely to include a definition to allow researchers to reliably recognise an ethical challenge in retrieved records. We used a 5-year timeframe as a date restriction. This reflected a balance between adequately covering recent use of the term and time and resource restrictions of the rapid review.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Information sources

The search strategy was as follows:

‘ethical challenge’.ti OR ‘ethical challenges’.ti.

We searched Medline (Ovid interface), Philosopher’s Index (OVID interface), EMBASE (OVID interface), and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EBSCO interface) for studies indexed over a five-year period between April 2016 and April 2021. These resources cover the breadth of healthcare research. Including Philosopher’s Index increased coverage of the bioethics literature. We did not search the grey literature [ 6 ]. The search strategy was tested by successfully retrieving three sentinel studies known to the research team.

Study selection

Retrieved studies were imported into Endnote X9.2 [ 29 ]. Records unavailable through institutional subscriptions were requested from corresponding authors. If unavailable 14 days after the request, the record was excluded. A random sample of 20% of records were dual screened at the title/abstract level by GS/MD. After discussion, the remainder were screened by GS. At full-text screening, a further 20% were dual screened by GS/MD and, again after discussion, the remaining studies were screened by GS.

Data extraction and analysis

Data extraction was undertaken using a pre-piloted form, with the first 5 records dually extracted by GS and MD. Data from the remaining included studies was then extracted by GS, with correctness and completeness checked by MD. We collected data on date of publication, authors, journal, country (for primary studies), methodology, definition of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ (present (yes/no)) and (where offered) the definition provided, and any closely related terms used, with counts of all terms used in each article. For closely related terms, data was extracted from the authors’ text, but not from direct quotations from qualitative research. Where definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ were offered and/or related terms were identified, these were categorised and counted following the principles of summative content analysis [ 30 ]. Summative content analysis combines both the quantitative counting of specific content or words/terms with latent content analysis to identify and categorise their meanings. We identified keywords (‘ethical challenge(s)’ and closely related terms) deployed by the authors of the included papers, both prior to and during data analysis, and analysed the retrieved definitions. This approach allowed for exploration of both the content of definitions and development of insights into the use of related terms.

Risk of bias assessment

The focus of the rapid review was the definition of the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ within retrieved records. We therefore did not undertake quality assessment for the included studies and reviews.

831 records were retrieved, reduced to 393 after de-duplication. 238 records were excluded after reviewing the title and/or abstract. 157 records were identified for full text screening, with 3 unavailable [ 31 – 33 ]. 82 records were excluded at full text stage and 72 records were included for analysis. See Fig. 1 for the PRISMA flowchart.

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Object name is 12910_2021_700_Fig1_HTML.jpg

PRISMA flow diagram of record identification

Record characteristics

Of the 72 included records, 53 were empirical studies [ 34 – 86 ], 10 non-systematic reviews [ 87 – 96 ], 7 systematic reviews [ 12 – 14 , 97 – 100 ], 1 systematic review protocol [ 101 ], and 1 non-systematic review protocol [ 102 ]. Of the 53 empirical studies, 42 (79%) were qualitative studies [ 34 – 36 , 38 – 44 , 47 , 48 , 50 – 52 , 54 – 58 , 60 , 62 – 67 , 69 , 71 – 77 , 79 – 81 , 83 – 86 ], 6 (12%) used a mixed methods approach [ 45 , 46 , 53 , 59 , 61 , 68 ], and 5 (10%) were quantitative [ 37 , 49 , 70 , 78 , 82 ]. 7/56 empirical studies, all qualitative interview studies, recruited participants internationally with no specific location stated [ 40 , 54 , 55 , 58 , 60 , 63 , 73 ]. Of the remaining studies, all but one were single-country studies: Botswana [ 75 ], Canada [ 41 , 65 ], China [ 57 ], Denmark [ 39 , 43 ], Dominican Republic [ 44 ], Germany [ 51 , 84 ], India [ 61 ], Iran [ 38 , 46 , 49 , 68 , 70 – 72 , 78 , 82 , 98 ], Italy [ 45 ], Mexico [ 87 ], the Netherlands [ 76 ], New Zealand [ 47 ], Norway [ 42 , 52 , 56 , 64 , 80 , 81 , 83 ], Saudi Arabia [ 34 – 37 ], Tanzania [ 69 , 74 ], Uganda [ 67 ], UK [ 86 ], and USA [ 50 , 53 , 59 , 62 , 66 , 77 , 79 , 85 , 85 ]. The remaining study was undertaken in both Sierra Leone and the UK [ 48 ]. See Table Table2 2 for a summary.

Included study details

12/72 (17%) of retrieved studies offered an explicit definition for ‘ethical challenge(s)’ [ 12 – 14 , 48 , 50 , 56 , 57 , 66 , 69 , 81 , 98 , 101 ]. Definitions were more likely to be found in more recent publications, with 4/12 included studies published in 2016–2018 [ 14 , 48 , 56 , 81 ], and 8/12 published in 2019–2021 [ 12 , 13 , 50 , 57 , 66 , 69 , 98 , 101 ]. The included study locations were evenly distributed, matching the overall pattern of retrieved studies, with studies from high- [ 48 , 50 , 56 , 66 , 81 ], middle- [ 57 , 98 ], and low-income settings [ 48 , 69 ]. The identified studies included eight qualitative studies [ 48 , 50 , 56 , 57 , 66 , 69 , 81 , 98 ], 3 systematic reviews [ 12 – 14 ], and 1 systematic review protocol [ 101 ]. Two of these records were the systematic review protocol and the report from our group, which accordingly contained the same definition [ 12 , 101 ], leaving 11 unique definitions. Definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ identified in included studies are provided in Table Table3. 3 . Additionally, 68/72 (94%) reports used closely related terms synonymously in place of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ throughout their manuscript text, with between 1 and 8 different terms used within each report, and 32 different terms were identified. This occurred in both those reports that contained a definition and those that did not. See Table Table4 4 for terms and frequencies.

Details of studies that contained an explicit definition of ‘ethical challenges’

Use of terms closely related to ‘ethical challenge’

Those records that offered explicit definitions used four approaches: (1) definition through concepts [ 12 , 57 , 66 ]; (2) reference to moral conflict, moral uncertainty or difficult choices [ 13 , 14 , 48 , 57 , 69 , 98 ]; (3) definition by study participants [ 12 , 48 , 50 , 56 ]; or (4) challenges as linked to their ability to generate emotional or moral distress within healthcare practitioners [ 14 , 14 , 66 , 81 ]. Each definition was associated with one or more of the identified elements, although none covered all four approaches. We describe these approaches below.

Approach 1: definition through concepts

This approach involves primarily defining ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in terms of related concepts. All three definitions using this approach defined ‘ethical challenge(s)’ as a summative collection of related concepts, including ‘ethical dilemmas’, ‘moral dilemmas’, ‘moral challenges’, ‘ethical issues’, and ‘ethical conflicts’ [ 12 , 57 , 66 ], for example:

‘The expression “ethical challenges” mainly refers to ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts as well as other scenarios where difficult choices have to be made’ [ 57 ] p34

Only one went on to define the other concepts they utilised, ‘ethical dilemmas’ and ‘ethical conflicts’:

‘Ethical dilemmas are described as situations that cannot be solved; decisions made between two options may be morally plausible but are equally problematic due to the circumstances. Ethical conflicts, on the contrary, arise when one is aware of the necessity of proper actions but he or she may have trouble exercising these actions because of certain internal or external factors.’ [ 57 ] p34

Approach 2: moral conflict, moral uncertainty or difficult choices

This approach anchors an ethical challenge to the requirement for an agent to make a (difficult) choice in a situation where moral principles conflict, or there is moral uncertainty as to the ‘right’ way forward.

‘In this context, ethical challenge refers to the situation whereby every alternative is morally wrong and still one has to make a choice’ [ 69 ] p676 ‘An ethical challenge occurs when one does not know how to behave and act in the best way…’ [ 14 ] p93

Approach 3: definition by study participants

Four of the definitions involved research participants themselves defining something as an ‘ethical challenge’ [ 12 , 48 , 50 , 56 ], with three studies explicitly stating that participants would lead this definitional work [ 48 , 50 , 56 ]. Draper & Jenkins offer a starting definition, adopted from Schwartz et al. [ 103 ] with which to prime participants, while Forbes and Phillips [ 50 ] and Jakobsen and Sørlie [ 56 ] left the definition fully with their participants (Table (Table3). 3 ). Finally, Schofield et al. proposed a very broad definition (Table (Table3), 3 ), alongside the specific statement that either participants or researchers could nominate something as an ‘ethical challenge’ [ 12 ].

Approach 4: emotional or moral distress

This final approach was to tie ethical challenges to situations where participants feel ‘discomfort’, emotional distress or more specifically moral distress or moral residue [ 14 , 66 , 81 ]. Larkin et al. are clear that this distress must be tied to moral causes, but Hem et al. and Storaker et al. also refer more broadly to ‘discomfort’ [ 14 ] and ‘emotional stress’ [ 81 ] respectively. For example:

‘In this article, ethical challenges refer to values that entail emotional and moral stress in healthcare personnel.’ [ 81 ] p557

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first rapid review to examine the use of the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in empirical healthcare research literature. Notably, only 12/72 (17%) of included studies published in the last 5 years contained a definition for ‘ethical challenge(s)’, despite this being the focus of the research being reported. The definitions identified were found in qualitative studies and systematic reviews and were evenly distributed geographically across high-, middle- and low-income settings. Definitions contained one or more of the identified approaches, although none contained elements from all four. Taken together, these findings suggest that a clear definition of ‘ethical challenge(s)’, and consistent use thereof, is currently lacking.

The four approaches indicate the diverse approaches to understanding ‘ethical challenge(s)’. Approaches 1 and 2 explore the concept from opposite viewpoints, with approach 1 looking from the conceptual perspective, through terms such as ‘dilemmas’ and ‘conflict’, and approach 2 from a participant perspective, specifically in those situations in which someone is trying to make a decision in circumstances where the preferred option is not possible or when they perceive there to be clash in values they feel are important. Within the concept-led definitions (approach 1), the use of a plurality of terms highlights a potential risk of bias, as different readers may interpret these differently. For example, some terms, such as ‘moral dilemma’, have relatively well understood specific meanings for some readers, particularly those with philosophical training [ 104 – 106 ]. The presence in the literature of specific and multiple meanings for some related terms highlights the importance of empirical studies providing a definition of these additional terms alongside their primary definition for ‘ethical challenge(s)’. This is more likely to be relevant where an a priori definition is used, but may be relevant to any prompting text for studies using a participant-led process, as in the study by Draper and Jenkins [ 48 ]. This clarity is important for both readers and future researchers who may undertake a secondary analysis of the data.

Approach 3 involves facilitating participants to nominate something as an ethical challenge [ 12 , 48 , 50 , 56 ]. This speaks to an important question about who, in a research context, is permitted to define or describe the object of interest, in this case ‘ethical challenge(s)’. Restricting the identification of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ to researchers alone may introduce bias by excluding input from those without bioethical ‘expertise’, but with important lived experience of the context under investigation. There is evidence that although clinicians can be sensitive to major ethical dilemmas, they can be less sensitive to small everyday ethical elements in clinical practice, and that ethical awareness varies between individuals [ 107 , 108 ]. Additionally, there is evidence in healthcare ethics research that patients and carers identify ethical challenges in situations that healthcare workers do not [ 109 ]. Therefore, relying entirely on a particular stakeholders’ perspectives (such as clinicians’) may risk missing important ethical challenges present in a scenario (assuming, of course, that we can settle what counts as an ‘ethical challenge(s)’).

In Approach 4, ethical challenges were linked to situations in which participants felt discomfort [ 14 ], emotional stress [ 81 ], moral distress or moral residue [ 66 ]. These concepts are themselves defined in quite varied ways (see, for example, definitions of ‘moral distress’ in a systematic review by Morley et al. [ 110 ]), potentially leading to additional conceptual confusion. Identifying triggers for moral distress is important, as high levels of moral distress are known to have negative impacts on work environments and lead to increased levels of compassion fatigue, increased staff turnover rates and poorer patient outcomes [ 110 – 112 ]. However, it is also possible that the requirement that, to be identified as an ethical challenge, the situation must invoke stress or distress might result in the under-identification of ethical challenges. We anticipate that many practitioners will daily manage multiple low-level ethical challenges, many of which will not generate moral distress or leave a moral residue. As such, the presence of moral distress may not be sufficient or even necessary in order to label a moral event an ‘ethical challenge’. However, the relationship between ‘ethical challenge(s)’ and moral distress is complex, and some might argue that the latter has an important relationship to the former. For example, moral distress, as conceived by Jameton and others [ 110 , 113 , 114 ], is linked to the after-effects of having to handle ethical challenge(s), so some researchers might view the generation of moral distress as relevant to identifying ethical challenges.

Although our review revealed these four approaches, the wider literature indicates there may be alternative approaches available. For example, other potential approaches would define ethical challenges as events that interact with moral principles, such as autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence or justice, as proposed by Beauchamp and Childress [ 115 ], or as events in which those principles clash, for example as used by Klingler et al. in their research focusing on ethical issues in health surveillance [ 116 ]. However, these approaches were not seen amongst our included papers.

Returning to our included papers, the high rates of use of closely related terms within included manuscript texts may add to difficulties in understanding the exact object of interest if these terms are being used as synonyms for ‘ethical challenge(s)’. This may be particularly the case if terms used include those such as ‘moral dilemma’, which (as shown above) will have specific meanings for some readers. Interchangeable, undefined usage of these terms by study authors within study texts risks further exacerbating the problems caused by a lack of definitional clarity.

Strengths and limitations

This rapid review is the first systematic attempt to describe the definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ available within the recent published literature.

There are, however, five limitations to note. First, the review only includes results from the past 5 years, which inevitably means that older publications, which may have contained further definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’, were excluded. The focus on the previous 5 years does, however, allow for an assessment of the term’s use(s) within a reasonable period of time and was felt to be appropriate given the aims and resources available to this project.

Second, our three assumptions listed in the methodology section may have excluded some records that contained a relevant definition. However, these assumptions, and the resulting focus on two search terms, allowed for a balance between retrieved record numbers and team resources.

Third, the four databases searched were chosen for their focus on the healthcare ethics literature; we may therefore may have missed relevant usage in other fields or disciplines. Similarly, we did not search the grey literature, which might have excluded relevant research.

Fourth, for resource reasons, the assessment as to whether a related term was being used interchangeably in the text was undertaken by a single researcher (GS). This subjective assessment risks miscalculating both the number of interchangeable terms identified and the frequency counts.

Finally, we did not review the theoretical literature for conceptual definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’, hence the definitions we identified might not match completely conceptual understandings of the term. However, our review shows how the term is currently being used in the research literature. Indeed, if there are strong conceptual definitions within the theoretical literature, then it is clear that they are currently not reaching the researchers whose work was identified by our review.

This review is the first, to our knowledge, to identify and describe definitions (and uses) of the widely-utilised concept of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ within healthcare research. Only 17% (12/72) of retrieved papers presented an explicit definition of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ before beginning to investigate this concept in context. The definitions found contained one or more of four identified approaches, with significant cross-reference to related terms and concepts which themselves have variation in their accepted meanings. We recommend that researchers define the phenomenon of interest—in this case, ‘ethical challenge(s)’—to help ensure clarity. This should either be a priori, or, if using an approach that includes participant participation in the generation of the definition, reporting their final working definition a posteriori. The choice of definition should be justified, including the decision as to whether to include participants in this process. Additionally, if a definition references other conceptual terms, then consideration should be given to defining these as well.

The results of this rapid review suggest that a common conceptual understanding of the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ is lacking within empirical bioethical research and that there is a need for researchers in this area to consider what conceptual formulations might be most useful. Again, failure to use definitions of crucial research concepts within empirical bioethics research potentially generates confusion and avoidable bias within research outputs, risking misleading ethical analyses, evaluations, and resulting recommendations. We therefore hope this review will help stimulate debate amongst empirical bioethics researchers on possible definitional content for such a commonly used term and prompt further discussion and research. Additionally, given the central role of patient and public partnership and involvement in research, further thought should be given to who should be involved in nominating something as a challenge worthy of study.

Following on from this work, there would be value in conducting an empirical bioethical project combining a full systematic review of definitions of ‘ethical challenge(s)’ (and related terms) integrated with an exploration of the conceptual literature to generate recommendations for approaches towards the content of potential definitions, perhaps related to the identified approaches above. Such a project could also ask authors who currently use the term ‘ethical challenge(s)’ in their research how they conceptualise this. Furthermore, work to better understand the benefits of including study participants in the definition process is also important. Finally, whilst researchers should justify whatever approach they choose to take, there may be merit in examining whether anything is lost if studies lack a robust or agreed definition, or whether doing so affords a flexibility and openness that allows for a broader range of ethical challenges to be identified.

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Authors' contributions

GS, MD and RH conceived of the idea for the review; LES, GS, MD and RH designed the review protocol; GS and MD conducted the literature searching, screening, data extraction and led on data interpretation but all authors were involved; GS led on drafting the manuscript; all authors critically revised the manuscript for content and approved the version to be published. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

GS is supported by a Wellcome Trust Research Award for Health Professionals (208129/Z/17/Z). LES is funded by a Career Development Fellowship from the National Institute for Health Research. RH is part-funded by the Wellcome Trust (209841/Z/17/Z) and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol. He serves on various local, regional, and national ethics committees and related groups. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health, or any of the other organisations with and for whom the authors work.

Availability of data and materials

Declarations.

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interests.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Ethical Dilemma Essay

TOOLS FOR WRITING – THE ETHICAL DILEMMA ESSAY

Table of contents, defining an ethical dilemma, ethical dilemma essay topics, how to write an ethical dilemma essay, ethical dilemma essay examples.

We all have a sense of ethics – moral principles that are a part of who we are . Some people are fully opposed to the death penalty; others are opposed to abortion; some support mercy killing, or the “right to die.” But what happens when our moral principles are put to the test through an ethical dilemma?

Basically, an ethical dilemma is facing a decision that, in making that decision, violates a moral principle in order to follow another one . Either decision will mean violating one of your moral principles.

An ethical dilemma is facing a decision that, in making that decision, violates a moral principle in order to follow another one

A simple and often used example of a moral dilemma is this: You are on a ship that is sinking, and you must get into a lifeboat. That lifeboat can only hold 10 people without sinking, and there are 11 of you that need to get into it. Your moral principle is the preservation of life at all costs. How do you determine who does not get into that lifeboat? Or do you put all 11 in the lifeboat which will kill all of you? Any decision you make will compromise your principle of preserving life at all costs.

If you are assigned an ethical dilemma essay, chances are you are given a question or a prompt for that essay, but if not you can always search for a write my paper help on our web-site

Sample Ethical Dilemma Essay

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Have you ever faced an ethical dilemma? Write a personal ethical dilemma essay about one such dilemma and how you handled it. It will be in the first person and will not have to follow the formal writing rules of academic writing .

Here are several potential topics of an ethical dilemma essay. You will note that most provide scenarios in which a person will have to make a decision.

Best ethical dilemma essay topics:

You are a nurse who is committed to providing the best possible care according to the protocols that have been established. You have a patient who is dying. He is in extreme pain. You are charged with administering pain medication on a set schedule, but the patient remains in extreme pain and is asking for more pain medication on a shorter schedule. Do you follow your moral principle of relieving pain or the protocols that have been established?
You are the spouse of a woman who has gone into labor. There are complications. The doctor has informed you that you must make a decision to save the life or your wife or your as yet unborn child. What is your decision-making process, and how does either decision compromise your moral principles of the sanctity of life? Do you abort the child and condemn it to death or do you preserve the life of your wife?
You have witnessed your best friend cheating on an exam. Do you let loyalty to your friend prevail and not report this, or do you abide by your sense of what is right and report the incident to your instructor?
You are an animal rights advocate, believing that all life is sacred. A biological research company is conducting research using animals as subjects. The goal of this research is to eliminate a horrible disease that is afflicting many people all over the world., but animals will suffer even die, in the process. Can you reconcile your advocacy of animal rights with the greater good of saving human lives?

While your essay will follow the standard format – introduction, body, and conclusion – it may be of different types. You may be writing a narrative of personal experience; you may be writing a more academic piece on an ethical dilemma in a conceptual way; you may be writing an argumentative piece on a specific ethical dilemma. And some of these types of essays may require some research.

Once you have completed your mind map, and consolidated the items into specific points that you want to make, you are ready to craft at least a rough outline of the body paragraphs you will compose.

Develop your thesis statement based upon your points. What is it that you are trying to “prove” to your audience? What do you want your reader to take away from this essay? Your answer to these questions will help you to form your thesis statement.

Write your body paragraphs first. These must be well-formed, with topic sentences and lots of detail to support them.

One the body paragraphs are constructed, you are ready to craft your introduction – a part of your essay that will introduce the topic and provide your thesis for the essay. Work to create a “hook” for your reader – something that will pique their interest and motivate them to read on. This might be a startling statistic, a quote from a famous person, or a short anecdote to which they can relate.

Carefully think about your conclusion. You will want to re-state your thesis , of course, but you also may need to encourage those who are dealing with moral dilemmas , as they struggle with their own.

There are plenty of ethical dilemma essay examples out there on the web. And they will give you great ideas about structure and format. But understand this: your essay must be uniquely yours. You must insert your own style, your own ideas, your own style into your essay, or it won’t be compelling or engaging to your reader. Take the ideas; take the points. But make the essay yours alone.

External links

How to Mind Map with Tony Buzan. (2015). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5Y4pIsXTV0

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Focus on Ethics: Ethical Issues—Responsibilities and Dilemmas

As we have written in NAEYC books about professional ethics, when faced with a challenging situation in the workplace, the first thing an early childhood educator needs to do is to determine whether it is an ethical issue. Our experience tells us that this can be a difficult process, one that many are unsure about. The first question you should ask yourself is, “Does it concern right and wrong, rights and responsibilities, human welfare, or individuals’ best interests?” If you answer no to each of these items, the situation is not an ethical issue and you can handle it as you would handle any workplace concern. If you answer yes to any of the items, you are facing an ethical issue. How you respond to it depends on whether it is an ethical responsibility or an ethical dilemma.

An ethical issue: Is it an ethical responsibility or an ethical dilemma?

Over the years that we have been conducting workshops and teaching courses about professional ethics, we have found that early childhood educators do not always know the difference between an ethical responsibility and an ethical dilemma, nor are they sure about how each should be approached. To make this distinction clearer, we decided to use this March 2016 column to look at these two kinds of ethical issues.

Ethical responsibilities

Ethical responsibilities are mandates that are clearly spelled out in the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct —they describe how early childhood educators are required to act and what they must do

and must not do. The fact is, however, that instead of honoring these responsibilities, even well-meaning and conscientious early childhood educators are sometimes tempted to do what is easiest or what will please others. It is important to remember that when you encounter a situation that involves an ethical responsibility, you must follow the Code’s clear direction. The most important of the responsibilities spelled out in the NAEYC Code is Principle 1.1:

P-1.1—Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children. This principle has precedence over all others in this Code.

You can be confident that when you have done the right thing, the Code is there to back you up. You can rely on it to help you explain why you made a difficult or unpopular decision.

It can be helpful to think of ethical responsibilities as being very similar to legal responsibilities in that they require or forbid a particular action. And sometimes legal and ethical responsibilities are the same—for example, mandating the reporting of child abuse.

Ethical dilemmas

When you determine that a situation involves ethics and you don’t think it is a responsibility, it is likely to be an ethical dilemma. A dilemma is a situation for which there are two possible resolutions, each of which can be justified in moral terms. A dilemma requires a person to choose between two actions, each having some benefits but also having some costs. In a dilemma the legitimate needs and interests of one individual or group must give way to those of another individual or group—hence the commonly used expression "on the horns of a dilemma," describing the two-pronged nature of these situations. The example of an ethical dilemma we often give is the case of the mother who asks a teacher not to let her child nap at school because when he sleeps in the afternoon he has a hard time falling asleep at night. The teacher must choose between honoring the mother's request, which may have a detrimental effect on the child, or refusing the request, which will have a negative impact on the mother.

Ethical dilemmas are sometimes described as situation that involve two "rights." In the case of the nap, the early childhood educator can conclude that it is morally right to allow a child who needs a nap to nap. But it is also right to keep the child from napping to help a busy mother keep the child on schedule.

When you encounter an ethical issue, it may be helpful to remember that it is either a responsibility or a dilemma—its cannot be both. A characteristic of an ethical dilemma is that it involves deliberation. It can rarely be resolved quickly or by simply applying rules and relying on facts. You won't find easy solutions in any article or book for the dilemmas you face in your early childhood workplace. You can, however, learn to work through these difficult deliberations with guidance from the NAEYC Code. When you are certain that you have encountered an ethical dilemma, you can use the process described in the example that follows to help you find a justifiable resolution.

A discussion of the difference between an ethical responsibility and an ethical dilemma, and the process of ethical analysis, is described in detail in Chapter 3 (pages 27-36) of Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator , second edition. The book also provides examples of how the Code can be applied to a number of dilemmas that recur frequently in early childhood programs.

A New Ethical Issue—“Make sure my child drinks her milk”

Jane, a petite just-turned-3-year-old, is new in Kristen’s class. Jane’s father brings her to school each day at breakfast time.

As required by licensing and the USDA food program, the school serves milk at breakfast and lunch. Like a number of children in the class, Jane refuses milk and drinks water instead. Kristen allows children to make this choice. One day Jane’s father tells Kristen that he and his wife do not want her to allow Jane to drink water until she has drunk at least a full cup of milk. Kristen assures them that she will encourage Jane to drink her milk.

At the next meal, Kristen tells Jane that her family wants her to drink milk so she’ll be healthy and grow strong. Jane sobs uncontrollably. Kristen comforts her and allows her to drink water. She tells Jane she will talk to Jane’s father about letting her drink water. Jane’s eyes grow wide, and she sobs even harder, saying, “Don’t tell Daddy! Don’t tell Daddy!”

Should Kristen honor the wishes of the family or allow Jane to continue to drink water instead of milk? How could she use the NAEYC Code to guide her thinking and decision making in this situation?

The dilemma

This issue’s Focus on Ethics column asks you to consider the story of 3-year-old Jane, whose family does not want her to drink water in school until she has finished drinking her milk. This ethical issue, like others we have presented in previous columns, involves a conflict between requests made by a family member and what teachers think is good practice.

You might use this case as the basis for a staff meeting or an assignment for undergraduate or graduate students, or you might mull it over on your own or with a friend or colleague. We recommend that you use the process we describe in Chapter 3 of Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator to help you reach a well-reasoned response that systematically applies the Code:

1. Determine the nature of the problem

If it is an ethical issue, does it involve ethical responsibilities or is it an ethical dilemma? (If it is an ethical responsibility, what does the Code mandate that Kristen do? If it is an ethical dilemma, Kristen can seek a resolution using the steps that follow.)

2. Analyze the dilemma

Identify the conflicting responsibilities.
Brainstorm possible resolutions.
Consider ethical finesse finding a way to meet everyone’s needs without having to make a difficult decision.
Look for guidance in the NAEYC Code. Carefully review its Ideals and Principles—particularly those that apply to responsibilities to children and families.
Based on your review of the Code and using your best professional judgment, describe what you think is the most ethically defensible course of action in this situation.

When you have finished deliberating on this case and have decided on the best course of action for Kristen, send an email to the coeditors that includes your recommendation and a brief description of how you used the Code to reach this decision.

Information about ethical responsibilities and dilemmas is adapted from two NAEYC books, Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator: Using the NAEYC Code , second edition, and the newly updated Teaching the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct: A Resource Guide (forthcoming in spring 2016).

Photograph: Getty Images

Stephanie Feeney, PhD, is professor emerita of education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is coauthor of NAEYC’s “Code of Ethical Conduct” and NAEYC’s books about professional ethics. She participated in the development of supplements to the code for adult educators and program administrators and has written extensively about ethics in early care and education. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including Professionalism in Early Childhood Education: Doing Our best for Young Children and coauthor of Who Am I in the Lives of Children ? [email protected]

Nancy K. Freeman, PhD, is professor emerita of education at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where she was a member of the early childhood faculty. She has served as president of NAECTE and was a member of its board for many years. Nancy has written extensively on professional ethics since the 1990s, and has been involved in the Code’s revisions and in the development of its Supplements for Program Administrators and Adult Educators. [email protected]

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Article Contents

Introduction, the social work profession in greece, literature review, methodology, results of variance analysis, limitations, conclusions, acknowledgement.

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Social Workers Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in the Course of Their Professional Work: The Greek Experience

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Sevaste Chatzifotiou, Eleni Papouli, Social Workers Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas in the Course of Their Professional Work: The Greek Experience, The British Journal of Social Work , Volume 52, Issue 8, December 2022, Pages 4795–4814, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac084

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Globally, ethical dilemmas are a relatively neglected topic in social work research, despite their obvious importance to ethical professional practice. This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by exploring ethical dilemmas and related issues faced by social workers in Greece. For our purposes, we created an online survey questionnaire via Survey Monkey software and distributed it nationwide to all social workers, asking those who had more than two years of work experience at any kind of service providing agency to complete it. A total of 835 questionnaires were returned and used for data analysis (response rate 11.13 per cent). The study highlights the diversity of ethical dilemmas encountered by social workers in their professional practice, as well as revealing the different strategies, tools and mechanisms used in dealing with them. Further, it shows the urgent need for developing appropriate ethics support activities and training programmes for social workers, as a crucial part of their ongoing professional education and development. Such ethics initiatives are required to remain ethically competent throughout their working life.

Arguably, social work is an ethical-based profession that aims to promote people’s well-being by standing against inequities and discrimination and advocating for social justice and social change in the society ( Banks, 2012 , 2021 ; Reamer, 2013a ; Ioakimidis, 2013 ; Bisman, 2014 ; International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), 2014 ). Due to the demanding nature of the profession, social workers across the world commonly face many difficult situations at work that they must properly address in order to fulfil their mission. In some of these situations, social workers should have to individually make an ethical decision, which may involve tensions between conflicting interests and moral values or ethical principles. These situations at work are especially complicated for social workers and they often raise a variety of ethical difficulties that are no longer simple and straightforward cases to deal with. Such ethical difficulties at work are usually understood in terms of ethical dilemmas and can be cause for alarm because they make it difficult for social workers to choose amongst unfavourable alternatives to make ethical and good decisions.

In social work, as with other helping professions, ethical dilemmas play a vital role in the decision-making process, as they affect the professionals’ ability to make decisions that are crucial in tackling ethically difficult situations in the course of their work. Despite their apparent importance to ethical professional practice, ethical dilemmas in social work are mostly used as examples for teaching rather than as subjects for research. This is also true specifically for Greece, where ethical dilemmas have not been critically discussed and systematically examined so far, although their importance has been acknowledged in social work education and practice. As a result, ethical dilemmas remain a largely understudied area of social work research in the country, offering a huge potential for scientific exploration.

Considering the above, this study attempts to fill the knowledge gap regarding the nature of ethical dilemmas faced by social workers in Greece. The overall aim of the current study was 2-fold, first to make sense of the ethically dilemmatic situations facing social workers at work and the ways they deal with them, and secondly, to map out real-life examples of ethical dilemmas from the perspective of social workers in order to use them for the development of appropriate ethics training tools for educators, practitioners and students. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines such issues in social work practice as a whole without focusing on a specific professional practice sector or workplace setting. Following a brief look at social work in Greece, we discuss the English-speaking literature on ethical dilemmas along with the main ideas and thoughts on the subject.

Social work emerged as a profession in Greece in the mid-twentieth century. As in many other countries, the profession evolved in conjunction with the development of the national social welfare system, influenced by local political and socio-economic conditions. The first social work training school was established in Athens in 1937, followed by the legal establishment of professional autonomy for social workers in 1955 ( Kallinikaki, 2011 ). In line with the changing expectations of social workers’ roles, the education and practice of social work have undergone numerous changes over the years. Today, three university departments and one university division offer public social work degree programmes at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. In order to practice the profession, social workers are required to obtain a state license and be registered with the Hellenic Association of Social Workers (HASW), the national professional association for social workers. As of 2017, HASW has been a public legal entity whose duties and responsibilities are defined explicitly by the prevailing law (4488/2017). In Greece, social workers are employed in a variety of public and private (non-profit and for-profit) social work agencies, providing services to individuals, groups, families, organisations and communities. They also work in applied research and social welfare policy practice, and serve as supervisors, and agency administrators. Social workers adhere to professional code of ethics, laws and regulations.

In the social work literature, ethical dilemmas are described as situations that involve an obligatory choice between two or more alternatives (i.e. a trilemma) that are equally undesirable or unsatisfactory, each alternative dictated by a different ethical principle ( Dolgoff et al. , 2009 ; Barsky, 2010 ; O’Sullivan, 2011 ; Allen, 2012 ; Reamer, 2013a , 2019a ; Banks, 2021 ). As mentioned earlier, ethical dilemmas at work are difficult situations in which the social worker has to choose between various alternatives, not right or wrong options. As Kidder (2009) explains, right versus wrong choices are defined as an ethical temptation, in which the person knows the right thing to do, but chooses the wrong action. For social workers, this distinction is particularly important for the identification of a situation as an ethical dilemma so that they can handle it in a constructive way.

According to Allen (2012) , ethical dilemmas in social work can be classified into two broad categories: absolute or pure and approximate. Absolute or pure ethical dilemmas occur when two (or more) ethical principles apply to a situation, but they conflict with one another. Approximate ethical dilemmas are more complicated cases because they involve a conflict between ethics, values, law and/or policies. Given their complexity, approximate ethical dilemmas take a combination of various efforts to be solved and, therefore, they require more sophisticated solutions. Both categories of ethical dilemmas can coexist in any working environment.

Ethical dilemmas are often considered a routine part of the social work profession, regardless of the role or area of practice. Yet, ethical dilemmas may have particular meanings depending on the context in which they occur, and consequently they are often context sensitive. For example, a recent study carried out by Viscarret et al. (2020) found that the specificity of ethical dilemmas faced by Spanish social workers varies according to the area of practice and not on the work itself. They also found that the most pertinent ethical dilemmas in their country are present in the healthcare sector. But what about the content of the ethical dilemma itself? According to the IFSW (2014) , some ethical dilemmas facing social workers are common across countries at different levels of challenge, whilst others can be specific to particular countries.

Evidence suggests that ethical dilemmas emerging in both direct and indirect practice settings are related to various professional and personal issues (that are often interconnected in practice), of which the most common ones are the right to self-determination, informed consent, confidentiality and privacy, professional boundaries, moral and religious beliefs, administrative issues and dual relationships ( Gray and Gibbons, 2007 ; Barsky, 2010 ; Reamer, 2019a , 2019b , 2021 ; Viscarret et al. , 2020 ; Kesen et al. , 2021 ). Also, they might be related to the use of the digital technologies in the area of social service delivery ( Reamer, 2018 ). More recently, researchers from around the world seek to understand the nature of the ethical dilemmas encountered in social work practice in uncertain times such as those of COVID-19. For example, a recent international study conducted by the IFSW with the Social Work Ethics Research Partnership ( Banks et al. , 2020 ), showed that the ethical dilemmas facing social workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, were associated with the need of balancing clients’ rights, needs and risks against personal risk to them and others, with the need to protect public health and safety. Besides, this study raised ethical concerns about the use of digital modes of assessment in supporting social work practice by remote work during the pandemic outbreak.

Although there is considerable international literature and scholarly research on ethical dilemmas, empirical research is still very limited. In addition, as the literature review revealed, there is a lack of clarity in the definition of ethical dilemmas in many social work papers and textbooks, which makes it more difficult for researchers, scholars and even professionals to identify and address them. Similarly, the lack of a classification system as a standard way of grouping ethical dilemmas does not allow researchers to make the results of their studies comparable and valuable across different contexts and cultures. So far, the social work literature shows that the criteria used for classifying ethical dilemmas across countries are quite varied so that makes it difficult to interpret their nature and consequences. At present, the most used criteria (which can sometimes coexist) in identifying a situation as an ethical dilemma are: the type of recipient (s) with which they correspond, the cause of the ethical dilemma or the specific ethical principles or values in conflict. Nevertheless, whatever type of classifications used, there is no doubt that dealing with ethical dilemmas at work is by not an easy endeavour.

Admittedly, ethical dilemmas do not involve easy solutions because, according to McAuliffe (2005) , the process of identifying and interpreting them is largely subjective, influenced by individual viewpoints. In this respect, for example, it is not rare to see people who work in the same area of a practice sector or workplace setting having different views on defining a situation as an ethical dilemma. Resolving an ethical dilemma is always a tough situation that can cause stress and moral distress to social workers or even lead to uncertainty and disharmony in teams. This can depend on the complexity of the situation and the existence or not of an appropriate supportive framework and coping strategies ( Weinberg, 2009 ; Spijkerboer et al. , 2016 ; Papouli 2019 ; Reamer, 2021 ).

Whilst ethical dilemmas cannot be avoided, because they are everywhere in professional life, there is evidence that such dilemmas can be managed by having access to various ethics support mechanisms and using coping strategies that operate as buffers against ethical dilemmatic situations ( Banks and Williams, 2005 ; Weinberg, 2009 ; Papouli, 2019 ; Reamer, 2021 ). For example, social workers can seek support and guidance in handling ethical dilemmas by consulting their professional codes of ethics, or making use of reflective supervision and peer consultation for critical and supportive feedback. Also, they can seek legal advice or help from appropriate authorities and professional organisations. However, ethics support mechanisms and coping strategies have better outcomes when they are connected and linked with one another, rather than using them in a stand-alone mode ( Banks, 2011 ; Reamer, 2013a ; Strom-Gottfried, 2015 ).

In addressing ethical dilemmas, the social work literature provides many ethical decision-making models that can help professionals critically think and properly organise possible resolutions (see e.g. Congress, 2000 ; McAuliffe and Chenoweth, 2008 ; Dolgoff et al. , 2009 ; Reamer, 2013b ). Typically, these ethical decision-making models follow non-linear thinking by using step-by-step approaches to the dilemma, with each model having its own advantages and limitations. Recent research from allied disciplines has shown that some stepwise ethical decision-making models are easy to follow, whilst others are much more context-specific and can be complex frameworks to apply ( Johnson et al. , 2022 ). Currently, universities, professional bodies and organisations around the globe offer ethics courses in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education, which introduce ethical frameworks to students and practitioners that can help with better decision making in professional practice. Last but not the least is the fact that today’s modern workplace environments provide employees with ethics training activities to learn how to address and resolve ethical issues and dilemmas that arise in practice.

Study design, sample and procedures

This study used a descriptive, exploratory approach, which is appropriate given the paucity of knowledge about the research area. For our purpose, we created an online survey questionnaire, through the Survey Monkey software, and distributed it nationwide to all social workers. Inclusion criteria stipulated that participants should have a bachelor’s degree in social work, and more than two years of work experience. The latter criterion included in the study because the literature review showed that experienced professionals are generally better able to identify a situation as an ethical dilemma due to greater awareness of ethical issues ( Pope and Vetter, 1992 ).

Participants in the study were all practicing social workers since they were recruited by the HASWs, which authorised the distribution of survey materials through its own server. For purposes of the study, an invitation letter including a link to the online survey was sent to all HASW members (approximately 8,000) on the distribution list. The invitation letter explained the research project, the voluntary nature of participation, and the anonymity procedures. Participants were invited to respond to a self-administered questionnaire and provided consent electronically. We developed the questionnaire based on the literature review and it was pilot-tested with five experienced social work practitioners who fell within the study population. It was finalised based on their comments. The questionnaire included a total of thirty-six questions (both close- and open-ended questions) and was divided into three sections. Section A dealt with questions related to the demographic profile of the participants. Section B included specific questions about issues related to ethical dilemmas at work, ethics training and strategies for dealing with them. Finally, Section C focused on the social workers’ descriptions of ethical dilemmas and contained questions regarding information and other key factors addressing the dilemma. The questionnaire took approximately thirty minutes to complete. The survey was carried out between May and June 2021. A total of 835 questionnaires were returned and used for data analysis (response rate 11.13 per cent).

Since identifying ethical dilemmas is not always easy, we chose to provide participants with a working definition in order to enhance their understanding of the term. Using the literature review, we chose the following definition of ethical dilemma, which appeared at the beginning of the questionnaire: ‘Ethical dilemma in the workplace is a situation in which a social worker must choose between two or more equally unpleasant options (no right or wrong option), each guided by a different ethical principle.’

Ethical statement

This study followed the general social research ethical guidelines as outlined by the EU General Data Protection Regulation. All procedures were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Democritus University of Thrace (REC Protocol# 43426/398/08–04-2021), and electronic informed consent was obtained from all participants. The study was completely anonymous.

Data analysis

Quantitative.

The survey data were analysed via descriptive statistics, and responses to open-ended questions were analysed by Survey Monkey text analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey post hoc test as appropriate. The calculations were carried out using SPSS version 21.0.

Qualitative

Thematic analysis was the only qualitative method used to analyse the responses to the open-ended question on the social worker’s description of the ethical dilemma ( Braun and Clarke, 2006 ). As experienced researchers who have worked together on other studies, we knew that our different perspectives would allow us to view the data from various angles. Also, we knew that different perspectives contain subjective views that may affect our ability to identify unique issues in our data. Considering this, we attempted to analyse the data in such a way that our subjectivity did not pose a threat to their analysis. Based on the literature review, we developed a pre-identified themes framework to facilitate thematic analysis of the collected data and to classify ethical dilemmas according to the type of recipient (s) to which they relate. The framework included seven predefined types of ethical dilemmas as follows: (1) ethical dilemmas related to clients; (2) ethical dilemmas related to colleagues; (3) ethical dilemmas related to administration; (4) ethical dilemmas related to students; (5) ethical dilemmas related to research issues; (6) ethical dilemmas related to technology; and (7) ethical dilemmas related to personal views or beliefs. However, the framework was flexible, since new themes emerged after the data analysis and were added to the data results under the title ‘other ethical dilemmas’ ( Table 3 ).

Characteristics of ethical dilemmas

Sample characteristics.

The sample comprised 835 social workers from various regions in Greece ( Table 1 ). The participants were 733 females (87.78 per cent), 101 males (12.10 per cent) and 1 (0.12 per cent) not reporting gender status. The vast majority (99.64 per cent) of participants were of white Greek origin and belonged to various age groups: 33–42 years (46.23 per cent), 23–32 years (26.35 per cent), 43–52 years (17.60 per cent), 53–62 years (9.70 per cent) and 63+ years (0.12 per cent). Across all respondents, 72.34 per cent had a bachelor’s degree in social work, 35.93 per cent had a master’s degree, 4.31 per cent had a second bachelor’s degree and 1.32 per cent held a PhD.

Participants’ characteristics

Most participants reported that they work in the public sector (68.02 per cent), followed by the private, non-profit sector (26.23 per cent) and for-profit sector (4.79 per cent). Only 0.96 per cent of them work in the volunteer sector. In addition, 85.15 per cent were frontline social workers, 8.75 per cent held the position of manager or the director and 6.11 per cent held positions other than those reported in the survey such as supervisor, scientifically responsible, counsellor, coordinator, etc. Regarding the years of work experience in the current position, the sample included four different groups: 2–5 years (55.33 per cent), 6–10 years (15.93 per cent), 11–20 years (23.59 per cent) and 21+ years (5.15 per cent). Finally, fewer than half of the participants were employed in cities with populations exceeding 10,000 (43.35 per cent), followed by the capital city of Athens (32.93 per cent) and Thessaloniki, the co-capital city of Greece (8.26 per cent).

Areas of professional practice

With regards to the areas of professional practice, 15.33 per cent of the participants were employed in the social protection area, 13.05 per cent worked with older people, 11.14 per cent were employed in the refugee and migration services, 10.90 per cent worked in special education, 9.34 per cent were employed in mental health services, 7.31 per cent in child protection services, 7.19 per cent in primary and secondary education, 6.71 per cent in health services, 5.03 per cent in disability services, 2.87 per cent in the area of addictions and 2.16 per cent in community services. In addition, 7.90 per cent of the participants reported working in professional settings other than the previous areas of professional practice, such as community centres with Roma departments, homeless services, shelters and centres for women victims of violence, social structures to tackle poverty in Greece (e.g. social grocery store), etc. Only 0.96 per cent of participants stated that they work in delinquency services, and 0.12 per cent was employed in LGBTQI+ services.

Issues about ethical dilemmas at work and ethics training

Overall, the vast majority of participants stated that they faced ethical dilemmas in the course of their work (94.35 per cent), whilst a very small percentage did not experience any dilemmas (4.97 per cent). The majority said that they had never left a previous job due to unsolved ethical dilemmas occurring in the work environment (82.02 per cent) nor were thinking of doing so at the moment of survey (83.56 per cent). About the frequency of encountering ethical dilemmas, they reported that these may occur on a daily (16.44 per cent), weekly (26.03 per cent), monthly (36.30 per cent) and annually basis (21.23 per cent). In addition, 13.18 per cent of the participants reported being very well educated and prepared to solve ethical dilemmas that may arise in their work, 59.08 per cent said they were prepared enough, 22.77 per cent were less prepared and 2.57 per cent of them were not prepared. Overall, 48.97 per cent of participants who had been taught about social work ethics stated that they had received training on ethical dilemmas during undergraduate studies (46.75 per cent) or postgraduate studies (9.76 per cent). Moreover, some participants had attended relevant seminars or workshops (13.87 per cent).

As for the ethics training available in the workplace, based on the 584 of the 835 participants who answered the relevant question, 80.82 per cent stated not receiving any training for managing ethical dilemmas at work, whilst 9.42 per cent said they had. The rest of the participants skipped the question (9.76 per cent). Finally, over three-quarters of the participants reported that they do not use any ethical model for decision making in their work (75.51 per cent). However, 8.86 per cent of the participants who said they did use a framework, stated their preference by choosing from an existing list of ethical decision-making models that included the most widely cited ethical decision-making models in the social work literature. The included ethical decision-making models received the following percentages: the Reamer’s model (25.68 per cent), the inclusive model of ethical decision making as named by McAuliffe and Chenoweth (25.68 per cent), the ethical assessment screen by Dolgoff et al. (22.97 per cent) and the Congress’s Ethic Model of Decision Making (6.76 per cent).

Strategies for dealing with ethical dilemmas—Ethics support mechanisms

Nearly, all participants reported feeling stress or experiencing moral distress at some point during an effort to address an ethical dilemma. Specifically, 46.70 per cent reported feeling very stressed most of the time, 31.98 per cent reported feeling adequately stressed, 16.75 per cent reported feeling a little stressed and 4.06 per cent reported having no stress at all. About dealing with ethical dilemmas, participants were asked to choose from a list of nine strategies that work best for them in their work ( Table 2 ) and they could choose more than one answer. Amongst the 584 participants who answered the relevant question, 51.03 per cent stated they consult colleagues in the same specialty (i.e. other social workers) and 33.90 per cent consult colleagues in related specialties in the workplace (e.g. psychologists, teachers, psychiatrists, doctors, etc.). In addition, participants consult colleagues in the same specialty (48.29 per cent) or related specialties (12.84 per cent) outside the workplace. More than a quarter (27.05 per cent) also consult their supervisor inside or outside work.

Strategies for dealing with ethical dilemmas-ethics support mechanisms

Regarding the related specialty, text analysis showed that psychologists are the ones with which social workers most often go for consultation and supervision. Moreover, 50.34 per cent of the participants reported consulting the internal regulations and guidelines of their agency, whilst 40.92 per cent consulting the HASW Code of Ethics. Furthermore, 30.14 per cent said they look at legislation and law policies and seek legal advice and 11.13 per cent contact the HASW. Finally, 3.23 per cent reported that they do not consult anyone inside or outside work for various reasons, the most common being that of lack of supervision support in the workplace.

Out of 835 participants, 197 described ethical dilemmatic situations (23.59 per cent), of which 147 (74.61 per cent) met the requirements to be considered as ethical dilemmas, according to the literature review. For the purpose of this study, the classification of ethical dilemmas was based on the type of recipient(s) to which they correspond, as mentioned earlier. Table 3 gives an overview of the six different types of ethical dilemmas discovered during the data analysis, the frequency and the major issues related to their contents. It is interesting to mention here that no ethical dilemmas were reported regarding students and research issues based on the pre-existing themes framework.

Null hypothesis: Η 0 : There is no effect of age on responses to question Q13. Alternative hypothesis: Η 1 : There is an effect of age on responses to question Q13.

The ANOVA test results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the variables ( Tables 4 and 6 ). However, post hoc tests showed that there was only a correlation between the factors ‘age’ and ‘years of work experience’ and the question Q13 ( F 3,580 = 2,517, p = 0.049 and F 3,580 = 6,643, p = 0.000, respectively). The Tukey’s test for Q13 and the factor ‘age’ yields a maximum average of 2.84 for the age group 43–52 years and a minimum of 2.53 for the age group 23–32 years ( Table 5 ). The maximum average for the question Q13 and the factor ‘years of work experience’ is 3.27 for the age group 31–40 years and 2.48 for the age group 0–10 years ( Table 7 ).

The one-way ANOVA table for the factor ‘age’ and Q13

Tukey test for Q13

The one-way ANOVA table for the factor ‘year of work experience’ and Q13

Results of this study indicate that social workers in Greece recognise ethical dilemmas do exist in their workplace, and that, in general, they are faced with dilemmatic decisions at work, often on a monthly basis. Correlations between age group (43–52 years) and years of work experience highlight the importance of the age of social workers and the domain-specific work experience in identifying ethical dilemmas within the workplace. Whilst a detailed discussion of these results falls outside the scope of this article, it is important to emphasise that literature generally shows that mature workers bring specialised knowledge, experience and critical thinking to the workplaces ( Paullin, 2014 ), all of which are necessary to solve ethical issues effectively.

Furthermore, our results show that for social workers to manage ethical dilemmas at work, they need to use different strategies and ethics support mechanisms (formal or informal channels) inside and outside of the workplace, depending on the complexity of the dilemma and the availability of support sources ( Table 2 ). It is clear from our findings that using adequate multiple sources for advice and support is critical when making life-affecting judgements and ethical decisions. As seen, most social workers seek consultation from colleagues (usually another social worker) inside or outside their own workplace as well as use formal documents (e.g. professional code of ethics, agency’s regulations and guidelines, legislation, etc.) before making an important ethical decision. Interestingly, psychologists are amongst the most common specialty to which social workers turn more for advice, guidance or supervision, both inside and outside the workplace. Perhaps this is because both professions are human-centred disciplines and have much in common.

However, although the majority of our sample recognise and use different information and consulting sources, we found that some social workers do not seek any help although they reported facing ethical difficulties in their working environments. Whilst the number of these respondents is relatively low, the fact that they claim lack of supervision to address ethical dilemmas in the workplace demonstrates the need for supervision not only as a legal tool but also as an ethical requirement for social workers ( McCarthy et al. , 2020 ) in order to improve practice through critical reflections on workplace dilemmas. Moreover, we found that very few social workers (11.13 per cent) seek advice or guidance from their professional body (HASW). This finding is particularly noteworthy since it may be indicative of a more generalised problem related to the absence of ethics support activities and mechanisms in Greece that can serve as ethics advisors and trainers for social workers. To this end, it should be noted that the ethics committees operating under the HASW serve primarily as disciplinary bodies for violations of ethical and professional standards, rather than advisory bodies providing ethics consultation or/and training on a broad range of ethical issues.

Furthermore, another particularly notable finding is that most social workers have not received any ethics training after graduation nor have they received any in-service training or attended workshops on ethical issues, including managing ethical dilemmas at work. Only a very small number of social workers were sufficiently trained to handle dilemmas at work and use ethical decision-making models as a tool to frame their decisions. This is a surprising and worrying finding, especially because it reveals a discontinuous process in the development of appropriate ethical skills needed for social workers to be able to make ethical decisions and take action. The finding also suggests a lack of ethics training and development within the workplace context. Overall, this finding is of particular concern to us because it confirms existing significant gaps in ethics training for social workers in Greece as a developmental process that goes beyond academic programmes and continues throughout their professional career.

Consistent with the literature, social workers are mostly employed on the frontline assisting people to meet their needs and enhancing their well-being. This highlights the complexities of frontline practice in social work that often lead to numerous ethical challenges and dilemmas for social workers. Under this spectrum, the existence of different types of ethical dilemmas ( Table 3 ) was an expected finding that clearly shows the complexity of situations that frontline social workers may encounter in the course of their work. At the same time, these findings highlight the challenges of navigating through ethical dilemmas at work and the variety of ethical risks in addressing them. However, the low proportion of dilemmas categorised as relating to clients seems very surprising and needs further exploration through interviews in order to gain insights into how social workers relate to the subject.

I am against abortion; it goes against my personal morals. So, it may be very difficult to tell my client not to have an abortion. When I meet a client from a background different from mine, I often face the dilemma of how do I react to people from different backgrounds?

How should I deal with a coworker that acts like he/she is my supervisor? Should I say something to our manager? How can I handle his behaviour without causing harm to his client? The director forced me to give priority and provide services to clients who, apparently, were not in need of assistance. The director acted in this manner by obeying the orders of the local politician who leads the municipal organisation in which I work.

In the examples above, ethical dilemmas include situations such as ethical misconduct, conflicts between personal and professional values, and power imbalances involving political pressures. In light of the literature, these are common ethical problems at work that can adversely affect both workers and clients ( Barsky, 2010 ; Reamer, 2013a ; Scourfield, 2017 ; Banks, 2021 ). Such ethical issues are indicative of a lack of professionalism and inter-professionalism in social work practice, which could lead to unprofessional or even unethical practices. Yet, some authors, like Allen (2012) , argue that ethical issues involving conflicts between personal and professional values, in particular, should not be considered ethical dilemmas in social work practice because codes of ethics generally define what principles of ethical behaviour must be followed at all times. Indeed, viewing ethical dilemmas at work from the perspective of ethics codes is not only a professional obligation, but also an ethical responsibility for social workers to act in the client’s best interest rather than in their own best interest.

My director, who is also a social worker, posted a video on the internet to advertise the services of the organization with clients who showed their faces, thus violating the principle of confidentiality and putting their data at risk.

Based on what we have described above, we speculate that the types of ethical dilemmas reported are indicative of what social workers consider ethical dilemmas at work. According to the literature and our findings, social workers’ perceptions of ethical dilemmas are impacted and conceptualised by the context and conditions in which they practice their profession. In our study, it was revealed that the professional environments in which social workers work in Greece, seem to be largely characterised by organisational heterogeneity and structural imbalances. There is evidence from the literature that professionals working in such environments are often faced with unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions due to poorly defined roles and vague/unclear policies, rules and procedures associated with the organisation’s governance system ( Dolgoff et al. , 2009 ; Reamer, 2013a ; Janebová, 2019 ; Banks, 2021 ; Papouli, 2022 ). Considering the foregoing, research in the future should examine how different professional environments and interpersonal relationships within the public and private sectors can lead to specific types of ethical dilemmas for social workers.

This study has about the same limitations as any other online survey, due to its technological characteristics ( Minto et al. , 2017 ) despite this all efforts have been made to limit them. For example, it was possible to exclude potential respondents who reside in remote areas with no Internet access or were offline at the time the questionnaire was administered, due to technical problems, changes in electronic mail or insufficient equipment. Also, although it included an ‘other’ option and some open-ended questions that allowed respondents to enter their own answer, it was not possible to explore the answers of the respondents as it happens with the process of interviews. Self-report surveys are only valid to the extent that respondents provide accurate information. It is hoped that future research will build on this study by interviewing social workers from a variety of professional settings, both public and private. Finally, since participation in the study was voluntary, the data cannot accurately reflect the entire target population. There was therefore a self-selection bias in the study. As a result, the external validity of our results is limited to the sample participants and local contexts and circumstances. However, they can generally be applied in other countries with similar professional environments and working conditions for social workers.

The present study attempted to understand social workers’ views on ethical dilemmas and related ethics issues in their workplace using a combination of methods of answering questions and doing analysis of data. By highlighting the variety of ethical dilemmas social workers encounter, along with the methods and means they can use to effectively deal with them, the study added to the existing literature. The study also emphasised the need for ethics support activities within social service organisations, as well as ongoing ethics education programmes and courses (i.e. face-to-face training and/or online courses) for all social workers, regardless of their professional setting. These initiatives undoubtedly help social workers avoid making wrong decisions, navigate ethical challenges and dilemmas effectively, and prevent undesirable or unethical behaviour. At the same time, they support and improve the delivering of quality services to their clients. As evidenced in this study, ethics support and training initiatives should be a crucial part of the continuing professional development of social workers in order for them to be considered ethically competent in their profession and to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.

This study’s findings have implications for improving professional ethical practice through reflections on workplace dilemmas. With the growing complexity of modern cases that social workers have to manage, it is more critical than ever for the professional bodies to act as ethical umbrellas for their members by ensuring a comprehensive system of ethics support and continuing training activities with advice and expertise on ethical issues and dilemmas arising in everyday practice. Last but not the least, in order to ensure ethical practice is maintained on an ongoing basis, it is necessary to establish healthy and strong connections amongst professional bodies, universities and employment settings so as to bridge the ethics education and training gap by developing common activities and programmes that reinforce social work values and principles, and by embedding them in ethics policy of the workplace of social workers. Synergies such as these undoubtedly contribute to establishing a common position on the ethics agenda of social work in Greece by providing a context for discussion and reflection on ethical issues pertinent to professional practice.

The authors would like to thank Dr Vassilios Saltas for his valuable help in conducting the statistical analysis.

Conflict of interest statement . None declared.

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Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Case Study

This essay about ethical challenges in nursing focuses on a hypothetical case involving an elderly woman named Jane, who prefers palliative care over aggressive treatment for her terminal cancer, contrary to her family’s wishes for continued medical intervention. The narrative explores the role of nurses in balancing patient autonomy with the desires of the patient’s family, highlighting the complexities of ethical decision-making in healthcare settings. Nurses often act as mediators in these situations, advocating for the patient’s wishes while also addressing the family’s concerns through effective communication and ethical deliberation. The essay underscores the importance of respecting patient rights and maintaining compassionate, patient-centered care amidst emotionally charged family dynamics. This discussion serves to illuminate the broader implications for nursing ethics and the essential ongoing dialogue within the profession about handling such conflicts.

How it works

In the heart of every hospital, ethical questions weave through the corridors just as surely as the doctors and nurses who rush from room to room. One such question sits heavily on the shoulders of those in the nursing profession: How do they balance patient autonomy with family desires, especially in end-of-life care scenarios? To explore this, we look into a hypothetical yet all too common situation faced by those in the medical field.

Imagine a scenario involving an elderly woman, let’s call her Jane, who is battling terminal cancer.

Jane has clearly expressed her wish to forego aggressive treatments that would only prolong her suffering. Instead, she chooses palliative care, hoping to spend her remaining days in peace and dignity at home surrounded by loved ones. However, Jane’s family, grappling with impending grief, insists on pursuing every possible medical intervention, driven by a mix of hope, denial, and perhaps guilt.

This dichotomy presents a profound ethical challenge for the nurses involved. On one hand, there’s the ethical duty to honor the patient’s wishes, an aspect central to the nursing code which respects patient autonomy. On the other, there is a pressing need to empathize with Jane’s family, who are not ready to let go and might view the cessation of aggressive treatment as akin to giving up.

Nurses find themselves navigating these treacherous waters, often serving as mediators between what the patient wants and what her family thinks is best. The situation calls for nurses to use their professional judgment and interpersonal skills to handle the delicate balance of providing care that respects Jane’s wishes while compassionately communicating the realities and limitations of medical treatment to her family.

Such situations are fertile ground for ethical deliberation, often involving discussions with ethics committees, multiple team meetings, and sometimes legal advice. These processes are integral to ensuring that decisions are made in the best interests of the patient while considering the emotional and ethical standpoint of the family.

The case of Jane highlights the indispensable role of nurses as advocates for their patients’ wishes. It also underscores the importance of having clear and open communication channels within families and between families and medical professionals. These discussions are never easy, but they are necessary to navigate the complex interplay between medical possibilities, ethical responsibilities, and human emotions.

In conclusion, understanding and managing ethical dilemmas like this one is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the nursing profession and ensuring patient care remains compassionate and patient-centered. Each case, while unique, adds to the broader understanding and ongoing conversation about the best practices in nursing ethics, particularly in how to handle conflicts between patient rights and family wishes effectively.

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Padre's Corner - Ethical dilemmas

April 10, 2024 - Padre Kevin Sam, Canadian Armed Forces

Ever felt stuck in place, like you couldn’t decide the right thing to do?

This might be an ethical decision you had to make. It might be a situation where, either way, you felt it would be a difficult and undesirable decision. It was an ethical dilemma.

Sometimes, having to make a hard choice can make one feel excruciatingly painful inside. You know that one decision would be hard because it might not be beneficial to anyone involved.

When we interact with others, we will occasionally face ethical dilemmas. We need to decide between two seemingly undesirable results. Both choices might seem right, or both choices might seem wrong. Either way, a decision must be made. It is a hard place to be, and all of us have been there. This happens in our personal lives: at home, at work, and even when one is at rest and play.

This is where one needs to consult with trusted, wise and experienced persons, and even with family and friends—and sometimes not.

When one encounters this challenge, there will be a level of distress and anxiety. This can be healthy.

The definition of wisdom might be “the ability to live life skillfully.” This is not always possible because we all make mistakes in life. When we come to a point where we realize our decision was not the best decision, we must be able to forgive ourselves.

If it has ended up hurting someone, a sincere explanation could alleviate the hurt in the other person.

The outcome might not end up with hugs and forgiveness, but at least you tried. One day, the person you hurt might come to realize your decision was difficult to make. One day, that person might also experience the moral dilemma of having to make a decision that results in the same predicament.

It is healthy when there is moral distress. The inner struggle in desiring to do the right thing always come with struggle. A dilemma is not a dilemma when the choice is easy. Dilemmas are always difficult.

There is a biblical saying, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

Another saying says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Our intention and desire to do the right thing is of the utmost importance. It requires the desire to do the wise thing and the right thing. It also requires the humility to accept we might not always make the right decision—whether it was your decision or the decision of another.

Throughout life, remember even the most rational and dutiful decision might not always result in the best outcome. This is where humility comes in and reminds us not everything is in human hands. Providence may also have a hand in directing the path and trajectory your life takes. You might have thoroughly thought out and rationalized before executing your decision, and it might have ended up with a disastrous outcome. Remember: wisdom, the right intention and humility were at play in resolving your ethical dilemma.

It is my hope that whoever reads this and can find this relevant in their lives may come to deeply understand that forgiveness of oneself and of others has the power to cover the hurts that may have resulted in one’s life.

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An ethical dilemma is a conflict between alternatives where, no matter what a person does, some ethical principle will be compromised. Analyzing the options and their consequences provides the basic elements for decision-making. To do or not to do, that is the question you ask yourself every morning when you hit the snooze on your alarm.
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I. Definition and Key Ideas I will use the terms "ethical dilemma" and "moral dilemma" interchangeably, per popular usage. They overlap to a large degree; that is to say that most dilemmas discussed are both moral and ethical dilemmas at the same time; the difference will be discussed in section VI. Ethical or moral dilemmas are situations real or imagined where a person must choose ...
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Ethical dilemma. In philosophy, an ethical dilemma, also called an ethical paradox or moral dilemma, is a situation in which two or more conflicting moral imperatives, none of which overrides the other, confront an agent. A closely related definition characterizes an ethical dilemma as a situation in which every available choice is wrong.
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Example of an Ethical Dilemma. Engrave Computers is a technology based company that specializes in producing software that enable managers to monitor the performance of employees and predict their productivity. This software also gives companies opportunities to explore various issues that affect the performance of employees and propose ...
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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 ...
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Below, we summarizethe findings with the aim of providing a detailed account of the experiences of ethical dilemmas in nursing practice across the studies. The findings are structured into three themes: (1) balancing harm and care, (2) work overload influences quality, and (3) navigating in disagreement. Balancing harm and care.
Ethical Considerations in Research
Research ethics are a set of principles that guide your research designs and practices in both quantitative and qualitative research. In this article, you will learn about the types and examples of ethical considerations in research, such as informed consent, confidentiality, and avoiding plagiarism. You will also find out how to apply ethical principles to your own research projects with ...
Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Case Study
This essay about ethical challenges in nursing focuses on a hypothetical case involving an elderly woman named Jane, who prefers palliative care over aggressive treatment for her terminal cancer, contrary to her family's wishes for continued medical intervention. ... understanding and managing ethical dilemmas like this one is crucial for ...
Ethical dilemmas
One day, that person might also experience the moral dilemma of having to make a decision that results in the same predicament. It is healthy when there is moral distress. The inner struggle in desiring to do the right thing always come with struggle. A dilemma is not a dilemma when the choice is easy. Dilemmas are always difficult.

10 What is a Moral (Ethical) Dilemma?

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Ethical Dilemma

II. Where Does It Come From?

III. Controversies

IV. Famous Quotes

VI. Moral versus Ethical dilemmas and “the right” versus “the good”

VII. Moral dilemmas in Pop Culture

Example #2 : The Dark Knight

How to Write an Ethics Paper: Guide & Ethical Essay Examples

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221 Ethical Dilemma Essay Topics & Examples

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A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

What is Ethics?

Six Ethical Lenses

The Rights Lens

The Justice Lens

The Utilitarian Lens

The Common Good Lens

The Virtue Lens

The Care Ethics Lens

Using the Lenses

Making Decisions

Defining ethical challenge(s) in healthcare research: a rapid review

Mariana Dittborn

Lucy Ellen Selman

Conclusions

Eligibility criteria

Information sources

Study selection

Data extraction and analysis

Risk of bias assessment

Record characteristics