Ethics: The Basic Concepts

Morals are the prevailing standards of behavior that enable people to live cooperatively in groups.

Morals refer to what societies sanction as right and acceptable.

Most people tend to act morally and follow societal guidelines.

Morality often requires that people sacrifice their own short-term interests for the benefit of society.

People or entities that are indifferent to right and wrong are considered amoral, while those who do evil
acts are considered immoral.

While some moral principles seem to transcend time and culture, such as fairness, generally speaking,
morality is not fixed.

Morality describes the particular values of a specific group at a specific point in time. Historically,
morality has been closely connected to religious traditions, but today, its significance is equally
important to the secular world. For example, businesses and government agencies have codes of ethics
that employees are expected to follow.

Some philosophers make a distinction between morals and ethics. But many people use the term morals
and ethics interchangeably when talking about personal beliefs, actions, or principles. For example, it’s
common to say “My morals prevent me from cheating.” It’s also common to use ethics in this sentence
instead “My ethics prevent me from cheating.” So, morals are the principles that guide individual
conduct within society. And, while morals may change over time, they remain the standards of behavior
that society uses to judge right and wrong.
What is a Dilemma?

A dilemma is a situation where a person is forced to choose between two or more conflicting
options, neither of which is acceptable.

Moral Dilemmas
Are situations where persons, who are called “moral agents” in ethics, are forced to choose
between two or more conflicting options, neither of which revolves the situation in a morally acceptable
manner.

Example: Lindsay is a deeply religious person; hence, she considers killing absolutely wrong.
Unfortunately, it is found out that Lindsay is having an ectopic pregnancy.

Lindsay is faced with two conflicting options:

A. Resort to abortion which will save her life.

B. Does not resort to abortion leading to death of her and her baby.

Three conditions that must be present in moral dilemmas:

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

In moral dilemmas, the moral agent “seems fated to commit wrong, which implies that she is bound to
morally fail because in one way or another she will fail to do something which she ought to do. In other
words, by choosing one of the possible moral requirements, the person also fails on others.”
What are the Types of Moral Dilemmas?

1. Epistemic and ontological dilemmas;

2. Self-imposed and world-imposed dilemmas;
3. Obligation dilemmas and prohibition dilemmas;
4. Single agent and multi-person dilemmas.

 Epistemic Moral Dilemmas

o There are two or more moral requirements that conflict with each other.
o The moral agent hardly knows which one takes precedence over the other.
o For instance, I ought to honor my promise to my son to be home early but in my way
home I saw an sick old man needed to be brought to the hospital. “Where does my actual
duty lie?” Is an important purpose being served by me getting home early? How serious
is the condition of the sick old man?
o One option must be better than the other; only, only it needs fuller knowledge of the
situation; thus, “Epistemic”

 Ontological Moral Dilemmas

o There are two or more moral requirements that conflict with each other, yet neither of
these conflicting moral requirements overrides each other;
o Neither of the moral requirements is stronger than the other: hence, the moral agent can
hardly choose between the conflicting moral requirements.
o For example, a military doctor is attending to the needs of the wounded soldiers in the
middle of the war. Unfortunately, two soldiers urgently need a blood transfusion.
However, only one bag of blood is available at the moment. To whom shall the doctor
administer the blood transfusion?

 Self-imposed Moral Dilemmas

o Caused by the moral agent’s wrongdoings.

o For an instance, the agent is running for the position of mayor, to get the favors of the
community he ought to protect the virgin forest; on the other hand, he makes a deal for
 the mining company to fund his campaign if he let the mining corporation mines the
virgin forest. Therefore, the agent is faced with a dilemma fulfilling either of the
promise.

 World-imposed Moral Dilemma

o Certain events in the world place the moral agent in a situation of moral conflict.
o William Tyron’s book of Sophie’s Choice is a classic example. “Sophie Zawistowska
has been asked to choose which of her two children, Eva or Jan, will be sent to the gas
chamber in Auschwitz. An SS doctor, Fritz Jemand von Niemand, will grant a
dispensation to only one of her children. If she does not choose which one should live,
Dr. von Niemand will send both to their death. Sophie chooses her daughter Eva to go to
the gas chamber. Her son, Jan, is sent to the Children’s Camp”

 Obligation Dilemmas

o More than one feasible action is obligatory

o Sartre’s Student (Classic Example of Obligation Dilemmas):
o Sartre uses the anecdote of a former student’s moral dilemmas during WWII to illustrate
both the limits of making decisions based on a defined moral code and the erroneousness
of blaming “passions” for people’s actions. The French student’s brother was killed in
1940 by the Germans, but his father nonetheless later abandoned the family to
collaborate with the Germans. The student had to choose between staying in France with
his mother, who “found her only comfort in him,” and leaving to fight with the Free
French against the Germans occupation. After realizing he was caught between moral
principles-family and nation, or the obligation to care for his mother and the obligation
to avenge is brother’s death-he came to Sartre for advice. The philosopher told his
student that there was no correct or incorrect decision. Neither moral codes nor the
strength of his affections for one or the other party could determine what to do; rather,
the student had to “invent” his own solution to the problem.
 Prohibition Dilemmas

o All feasible actions are forbidden

o Classic Example: Sophie’s Choice

 Single Agent Dilemma

o The agent “ought, all things considered, to do A, ought, all things considered, to do B,
and she cannot do both A and B.”
o For instance, a medical doctor found out that her patient has HIV, for sure the medical
doctor may experience tension between the legal requirement to report the case and the
desire to respect the confidentiality. Although, the medical code of ethic acknowledges
her obligation to follow legal requirements and to intervene to protect the vulnerable.

 Multi-person Dilemma

o 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.”
o Multi-person dilemma occurs in situation that involves several persons like a family, an
organization, or a community who is expected to come up with a consensual decision on
a moral issue:
 A family maybe is torn choosing to terminate the life or prolong the life of a
family member
 An organization may have to choose between complying on the wage law by
cutting the its workforce or by retaining its current workforce by paying them
below the minimum required wage.
o The multi-person dilemmas require more than choosing what is right: it also entails that
the persons involved reached a general consensus.
Kinds of Ethical Dilemmas

 Most ethical dilemmas fall into one of two categories

o Situational
o Not-so-situational

 Situational Dilemma
o It is a manner judgement, moral reasoning and consciences.
o An existing inner struggle to resist temptation and rationalization

 Not-So-Situational Dilemma
o Happen despite the person’s best efforts to prevent them. As it requires a decision-
making model that allows a person to clarify the situation and offer constructive
alternatives.

Situational Ethics

 Used to evaluate what you do in light of the situation rather than by moral absolutes.
 It is a matter of conscience
 Examples of Situational Dilemmas may include:
o Misuse of company time or property
o Peer Pressure
o Lying
o Conflicts of Interest
o Following Rules
o Obeying Laws
o Interpersonal Conflicts

This are conflicts of conscience whether the agent will do them or not. The key of understanding is why
a person succumb to temptation. It is usually making decision about situational dilemmas based on
personal gain at the time of the crisis.

Ethical Decision is bound to rely base on person’s various needs and desires.

The key of working through a situational dilemma is to think about the influence of the choices on
personal ethical decisions.

A person should be aware of personal needs and desires to avoid temptation and fortify the character
and principles to stand up and say “No” to unethical choices or influences.
Decisions, Boundaries, and Following the Rules
Being decisive and sticking on the decisions.

 Four Steps of Ethical Decision-Making Process

o Input and collect information from various sources.

o Process and study the information
o Analyze the outcomes
o Step out and make a decision/choice

1. Ethics deals precisely with the study of human acts.

2. It is the amount or degree of voluntariness present in an act which determines the amount or
degree of responsibility and this in turn will determine the amount of punishment, if any, to be
meted out.

To know the nature of voluntaries, we must distinguish between:

a. Perfect Voluntariness – Full knowledge, Fully aware and full consent

b. Imperfect Voluntariness- No perfect knowledge nor consents or when either or both knowledge
or consents is partial.

We also distinguish between:

a. Direct Voluntary Act

- Voluntary in se.
- When the act is intended for its own sake, wither as means or as an end.
- For example: Attending on a party
b. Indirect Voluntary Act
- Voluntary in causa
- An act which is not intended for its own sake, but which merely follows as a
regrettable consequence of an action directly willed.
- For Example: Attending on a party and you unexpectedly saw your ex-partner
with his/her new partner leading to a change of mood.