Overview

A moral dilemma is a situation in which an agent has moral reasons to do each of two actions, but doing both is impossible. Thus, the agent seems condemned to moral failure no matter what they do.

Core Idea

The core idea is the “Tragic Choice.” Sometimes there is no right answer, only the “least bad” one.

Formal Definition

A situation where:

  1. You ought to do A.
  2. You ought to do B.
  3. You cannot do both A and B.

Intuition

  • Sophie’s Choice: A Nazi guard tells a mother she must choose one of her two children to live, or both will die. She has a duty to save each child, but she cannot save both.
  • The Trolley Problem: (Classic dilemma). Do nothing and 5 die, or act and 1 dies. You have a reason not to kill (1) and a reason to save (5).

Examples

  • Sartre’s Student: A student during WWII must choose between staying to care for his sick mother (filial duty) or leaving to fight the Nazis (patriotic duty). Sartre used this to show that abstract ethical rules fail us; we must just choose.
  • Whistleblowing: Loyalty to the company vs. duty to the public.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: Every dilemma has a solution if you think hard enough.
    • Correction: Some philosophers (like Williams) argue that genuine dilemmas exist where there is no right answer, and “moral residue” (guilt/regret) is appropriate even if you chose the best option.
  • Misconception: A difficult choice is a dilemma.
    • Correction: If one option is clearly better but hard to do (e.g., returning a lost wallet), it’s a test of will, not a dilemma.
  • Dirty Hands: The idea that political leaders must sometimes do immoral things for the greater good.
  • Moral Residue: The feeling of regret or guilt that remains after making a tragic choice.
  • Incommensurability: When values cannot be compared on a single scale (e.g., liberty vs. security).

Applications

  • AI Programming: Programming self-driving cars to handle dilemmas (hit the pedestrian or the wall?).
  • Triage: Medical dilemmas in disasters.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Denial: Some theories (like Utilitarianism) deny genuine dilemmas exist; there is always a calculation that yields the “right” answer (even if it’s 50.1% vs 49.9%).

Further Reading

  • Moral Dilemmas by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
  • Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre
  • Practical Ethics by Peter Singer