The Three Levels of Moral Dilemmas

Summary

This video explains the concept of moral dilemmas, which occur when individuals must choose between conflicting options that are morally unacceptable. It introduces three levels of moral dilemmas: personal, organizational, and structural. Personal dilemmas are individual moral conflicts, such as deciding whether to abort a dangerous ectopic pregnancy. Organizational dilemmas involve moral conflicts within organizations, like businesses or hospitals. Structural dilemmas encompass complex networks of institutions, such as balancing affordable healthcare with intellectual property rights. The video emphasizes the difficult nature of these decisions and how they span various aspects of life and society.

Takeaways

• 😊 A moral dilemma is a situation where a person must choose between conflicting options, neither of which is morally acceptable.
• 😟 The key element of a moral dilemma is that the person is forced to make a choice between morally unacceptable options.
• 🤔 If someone is in a difficult situation but isn't forced to choose, it’s considered a problematic situation, not a moral dilemma.
• 👥 There are three levels of moral dilemmas: personal, organizational, and structural.
• 🙍‍♀️ Personal moral dilemmas are experienced and resolved on an individual level, like in Kohlberg's Heinz dilemma or an ectopic pregnancy scenario.
• 🏥 Organizational moral dilemmas occur in social organizations, such as hospitals deciding whether to withdraw life support or businesses balancing employee safety with operations during a pandemic.
• 🌳 Structural moral dilemmas involve a network of institutions and are larger in scope, like government decisions balancing public health and economic interests.
• 💊 A structural moral dilemma example is the conflict between lowering medicine prices in poor countries and protecting the rights of researchers and pharmaceutical companies.
• 🏛 Governments may face structural moral dilemmas when allocating budgets between critical sectors like health and education.
• 📚 The script emphasizes understanding moral dilemmas as situations with no easy or morally acceptable options at personal, organizational, and structural levels.

Q & A

What is a moral dilemma?

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

What distinguishes a moral dilemma from a problematic situation?

In a moral dilemma, the person is forced to choose an option that is morally unacceptable, whereas in a problematic situation, the person may be in a difficult position but is not forced to make such a choice.

What are the three levels of moral dilemmas?

The three levels of moral dilemmas are personal, organizational, and structural.

What defines a personal moral dilemma?

Personal moral dilemmas are experienced and resolved on an individual level, often involving personal moral decisions. Most moral dilemmas belong to this level.

Can you provide an example of a personal moral dilemma?

An example of a personal moral dilemma is the case of an ectopic pregnancy, where a woman must choose between aborting the fetus to save her own life or continuing the pregnancy, which would likely result in both her death and the death of the fetus.

What are organizational moral dilemmas?

Organizational moral dilemmas are those experienced by social organizations, such as businesses, hospitals, and public sectors, often involving moral conflicts within the organization’s operations.

Can you give an example of an organizational moral dilemma?

An example of an organizational moral dilemma is a hospital deciding whether to withdraw life support from an unconscious, dying patient, balancing their belief in the sanctity of life against the need to prevent unendurable pain.

What are structural moral dilemmas?

Structural moral dilemmas involve a network of institutions and paradigms, often affecting multiple sectors and larger in scope than organizational dilemmas. They encompass wide-reaching moral issues.

What is an example of a structural moral dilemma?

An example of a structural moral dilemma is the high prices of medicine in poor countries, where lowering production costs could harm the legal rights and interests of pharmaceutical companies, while maintaining high prices restricts access to essential medicines for the public.

How do structural moral dilemmas differ from organizational moral dilemmas?

Structural moral dilemmas are broader and involve a network of multi-sectoral organizations and institutions, whereas organizational moral dilemmas are more confined to the operations and decisions within specific organizations.