Moral Dilemma

Moral dilemma is a state in which none of us would like to be. It is defined as the situation in which one has to make a decision whose outcome is in any case going to be undesirable. This definition is not a standard as it is defined differently in the fields of psychology, philosophy etc. Morality is not to be confused with ethics. Morality is used in perspective of individual character, while ethics are the way a group or a society behaves. The debate on moral dilemma has been going out for a long time now, but it came into limelight with the Alexander Holmes trial of 1842.

Classic Examples

The Overcrowded Ship
On March 13, 1841 the ship William Brown, left Liverpool with 17 crewmen and 65 passengers, most of whom were Irish and Scottish immigrants. On the 19th of April, the ship hit an iceberg and began to sink rapidly. There were two lifeboats, one big and one small. The captain, eight seamen and a passenger boarded the small lifeboat whereas the forty-one people including nine passengers occupied the larger lifeboat. There was not enough space on the larger lifeboat and to add to the passenger's woes, wind picked up and it began to rain heavily. The leader and crewmen knew that if they hoped to survive, they would need to get rid of the excess weight on the boat and for that, some passengers needed to be thrown off it. In this unfortunate situation, Alexander Holmes one of the seamen along with other crewmen began throwing people off into the freezing waters of Atlantic. On reaching Philadelphia, Alexander Holmes was tried for manslaughter as he was the only crewman to be found in the city but in view of the exceptional scenarios in which he had to make this choice, he was sentenced to six months in prison and $20 fine. There was a lot of public sympathy and everyone agreed that Holmes had no personal malice towards any of the passengers that had to be thrown off and he did that in interest of the bigger cause, but a lot of people criticized the seamen for saving their own lives rather than those of the passengers.

Sophie's Choice
The 1976 novel, Sophie's choice by William Styron is also an example of moral dilemma. In the novel, a Polish woman Sophie Zawistowska is told to make a choice between the life of her son and daughter by the Nazis. In an impulse, she decides that they can take her daughter as she thinks that her son is older and stronger and will survive. Unfortunately, she never hears from him ever and years later, remorseful that she had chosen between her children, Sophie commits suicide.

The Fat Man in the Cave
A group of people get stuck in a cave in which the water level is rising. There is only one small exit to the cave but unfortunately one of their friends who is not the most compact of blokes, gets stuck there. Though they try hard to push him out, it doesn't help. If the fat man is not removed from the mouth of the cave, then all of them will perish. One of the members, who has a dynamite stick proposes that they blow up their friend in order to get out of the cave. This is again a moral dilemma situation as someone has to be sacrificed so that others can live.

Jean Valjean's Conscience
In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the protagonist Jean Valijean is wanted for some of his illegal acts. However, he has established himself in a new town under an assumed name as a public benefactor. Although, Jean would be sentenced if he gets caught, he actually is a good man who helps the poor and needy. All is well until one day, a man gets arrested for a minor crime and is identified as Jean Valijean. Jean now is in a moral dilemma whether to reveal his true identity and go behind the bars or just let the life continue as nothing has happened. Jean thinks about so many people who are dependent on him especially a helpless woman and her small child towards which he has a special obligation. In the end, Jean reveals his true identity and stands for trial.

(Please note that the example "The Overcrowded Ship" is a true story, whereas other examples are fictitious)

Moral Dilemma Questions

• If you find a bag full of money, would you keep it quietly or search for the owner?
• If the person you love the most is suffering from a disease for which you need a large amount of money quickly, would you resort to unfair means of making money?
• You have been saving money from the past six months to buy a new car but a close friend who just met with an accident calls up to enquire if you can help him in settling the medical bills. Would you still go for the car or help him out?
• If your close one has been declared 'brain dead' and doctors ask you whether to 'pull the plug' or not, what would you do?
• You wish to have a baby boy, but fetal screening tests have shown that it is a baby girl, would you abort it?
• Would you cheat in order to pass your college examinations?

There has been a lot of research going on in the field of human morality. Lawrence Kohelberg, the famous psychologist conducted a survey on morality, ethics and decisions people make in extreme scenarios. His survey pointed to the various facets of human personality. All of us find ourselves in moral dilemmas but we are old enough to make our decisions on our own. We need to focus on the moral dilemmas for students as they are at a learning stage of their lives.