Notes on Ethical Dilemma and Moral Reasoning

Review

In the past days, you were exposed to selected ethical principles such as the
sanctity of life, saving as many as possible, the wrongness of killing, the wrongness
of discriminating the handicapped, and we should not use people as means and
among other principles. You were also tasked to explore additional principles at
your own choice and you had these: justice, respecting others and many others.
With the videos I posted, you can learn additional principles such as the
beneficence (promoting good), the nonmaleficence (do not harm), autonomy,
veracity (honesty), and again justice.

Another video posted, it shows some conflicting principles and philosophies

throughout human history. These are the cultural relativism (ethical relativism),
subjectivism (individual relativism), ethical egoism, and utilitarianism including
deontology, natural law, virtues, intuitionism, and more. These will be discussed in
detail in the coming days. These are some of our major topics to tackle.

There was also a video that indicates a lot of lesson especially on making moral
decision. Such decision must prioritize what is good. And what is good? It is “what
is good for you in space and time as best as we can determine.” This line prepares
you for our next lesson on ethical dilemma and moral reasoning. That is, you make
decision and behind that decision is the strongest reason that you can provide. This
may be based on your personal principles or the universal ethical principles.
You were also tasked to discover and unpack yourself as you write your personal
principles in “essay” which become your bases in making decisions.
Now, let’s learn further on moral dilemma and moral reasoning.
1. What is dilemma?
2. What is ethical dilemma?
3. What is moral reasoning?

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this topic, you must have:
1. Understood what dilemma, moral dilemma and moral reasoning is all about;
2. Made a choice/decision based on certain dilemma;
3. Presented reasons of the choice you made;
4. Evaluated both the choice and reasons of the decision or choice you made based
on the given dilemma; and
5. Ascertained your own moral development.

What is a dilemma?
It is a situation which is difficult to deal with. Usually, it has two seemingly equal
but conflicting choices. This is a scenario wherein you need to make a choice out of
the two or more alternatives.

What is a moral dilemma?

It is also a situation you are fronted with and challenges you to make good or right
decision and avoid the bad or wrong one. However, it becomes a moral concern
since it is concerned with what is a good or bad choice on the given scenario.
Example of a dilemma:
In Europe, a woman was near death from cancer. One drug might save her, a form
of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The druggist
was charging $2,000, ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only
get together about half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying
and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But
the druggist said, “No.” The husband got desperate and broke into the man’s store
to steal the drug for his wife. Should the husband have done that? Why?

What is moral reasoning?

It is a “capacity that allows us to think consciously and deliberately about morality”
(Saunders, 2015, p. 18). Operationally, it is simply giving reason why you choose
what you’ve chosen, and why you do what you’ve done.

ACTIVITY
Instructions:
1. Get a one whole sheet of paper and answer the questions below. Or if you have
a laptop, you can use it instead of a yellow pad. For those who are using a paper,
type in your output in our Facebook group once it is finalized.
2. Take time as you answer each questions.
3. Consider your personal principles when you take side or as you make a choice
4. Rely on yourself not on what others have told you (use autonomy).
5. Write your responses of these questions below.

Guide Questions for this Activity/Learning Task

Answer these questions based on the given sample of dilemma above:
1. What is the best thing to do in this moral dilemma above?
2. If you were Heinz, what will you do and why?
3. Will you let your wife die naturally?
4. Will you save her? In what way? And why not?
5. Will you steal the drug and destroy the store? Why and why not?
6. Will you kill the druggist? Why and why not?
7. If you were the druggist, what will you do and why?
8. How will you deal with Heinz?
9. If you were the druggist, will you choose for profit or the life of the ill wife of
Heinz? Why?

Note: There are many things that you can do in this scenario but you need to make
a decision before you’ll gonna do something. And when you decide, you’ve got to
have the best reason to justify your action. There are no wrong answers to the
questions above but there are best ones. Your answers to the questions would
reflect the kind of moral development you have. They would indicate how mature
you are in making moral decisions.

Additional questions:
1. Is your decision the best that you can ever make in this scenario?
2. Why could you say it is or it is not?
3. What personal principles have you anchored your decision and moral reasons?
4. Other than your personal principles what else could you use to which you can
anchor your reasons for every choice you can make?

Criteria for grading:

1. Substance - 20 points
2. Best decision - 20 points
3. Morally appropriate reason for the choice and action - 30 points

Reference:
[1] Saunders, L. F. (2015). What is moral reasoning? Philosophical Psychology 28(1).
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/…/267812170_What_is_moral_reas…
DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2013.801007}

RESEARCHGATE.NET
(PDF) What is moral reasoning?
PDF | What role does moral reasoning play in moral judgment? More specifically,
what causal role does moral reasoning have in the production of moral judgments?
Recently, many philosophers and psychologists have attempted to answer this
question by drawing on empirical data....