Hi how are you? I hope that very good. Today I will explain to you what ethical dilemmas are, their characteristics, the types that exist, and I will give you several examples.
Ethical dilemmas are those situations in which conflicts arise between our personal values (ethics) and the decisions we can make about them. That is, we are forced to make decisions that may not be acceptable to us or to others. For example, during an exam your best friend begs you to let him cheat.
What would you do? In an ethical dilemma, whichever option we choose will bring both positive and negative results. If you allow him to cheat, you would keep his friendship, but you would be dishonest with the professor.
If you refuse, you could lose their friendship, but you would be being honest. Ethical dilemmas occur in our daily lives and force us to reflect on the values, customs and norms that we prefer for our lives. Characteristics of ethical dilemmas They are situations of great complexity, in which the result of our decision will always bring good and bad consequences at the same time.
They make us think about what the best decision will be, but it is difficult for us to be clear. They are problems to which no solution is completely good or bad. Any decision we make will make us fail to comply with a moral principle.
These are situations that test our values and beliefs. There are no right or wrong solutions, rather they are responses to two moral or ethical imperatives to choose between. Types of ethical dilemmas Ethical dilemmas are classified into several types, according to the amount of information available to the person in charge of deciding, and according to whether they are real dilemmas or simple possibilities or hypotheses.
Hypothetical dilemma Refers to dilemmas that could happen, but have not actually happened. They are fictitious dilemmas that are posed in order to stimulate rational thinking and critical thinking, as a mental exercise on what could or could not be done. Real dilemma It is the opposite of the hypothetical dilemma, in the sense that this type of dilemma does occur in reality.
Real dilemmas can happen at any time in daily life, at school, with your siblings, family members, and even with people you pass on the street. Complete dilemma In this type of dilemma, the person who has the obligation to decide is informed in detail of all the consequences that each of the possible options will entail. Incomplete dilemma In this case it is not possible to know for sure what the consequences will be that will result from choosing one or another of the possible options.
Making a good decision requires imagination and the ability to reflect. Open dilemma Also called solution dilemma, it is the type of dilemma in which the situation and the surrounding circumstances arise without the person having taken any action. The person who is presented with the dilemma is asked to choose the procedure that he considers most appropriate.
Closed dilemma Or analysis dilemma, it is the type of dilemma in which the situation has already been solved, in one way or another, and the person who is asked is asked to rate or evaluate the solution (they are not asked to decide what make). Examples of Ethical Dilemmas A Close Friend You are in your classroom with a very close friend, but he is not very popular in your class. A few days ago, you met some colleagues who also like you, but are very popular.
They invite you to join to play, but you are not allowed to bring your friend. You would really like to be part of this group. What would you do?
The boy and the apple You are with your family buying food and you see a boy take an apple in a greengrocer and leave without paying. The child is observed by a camera and security arrives. He looks poor and hungry.
They ask you if you know where the boy who took the apple went. What would you answer? Report the culprit or not You are in the bathroom at school and notice that there is a lot of water on the floor.
You see a soaking wet boy, apparently breaking the faucet to the pipe by hitting it with his baseball bat. At that moment, already wet you too, you see the director of the school enter, who asks them: “who did this? ”.
what would you answer? The Bully Your teacher leaves you alone in the classroom for a few moments to go to the bathroom and puts a student in charge. That student is harassed by another child, beaten and insulted.
All your friends feel fear and anger. You can hear that the school psychologist is nearby and the bully boy threatens them to keep quiet. What would you do?
The test You arrive at school and they send you to the secretary to get the draft. When you arrive you meet a classmate from school, you are not his friend because he has harassed you many times and steals your breakfast almost every day. You find out that this fellow took a copy of tomorrow 's biology test .
You haven't studied much for the test. He promises to give it to you if you don't accuse him. What would you do?
The hand of God You, Carmelo and Sara are playing a soccer game. The result is not very good, they are 0-0 and there is one minute left in the game. You receive a pass from Carmelo and have a chance to score a goal, but the ball hits your hand.
However, you continue and score the goal. The referee says nothing. If the goal is disallowed, your team will lose the league; if the score stays, you have cheated.
How would you act? The referee's dilemma Imagine that you are the referee in a game where the soccer team of Nicolás, Sara and Carmelo participates. Nicholas is your best friend.
The game is 0-0 and there are three minutes left in the game. You see that Nicolás scores a goal with his head, but you think that the ball also touched his hand. You are not very sure and everyone looks at you.
If you disallow the goal, Nicolás's team will be eliminated. What would you do? A dentist A dentist is faced with a patient who is dissatisfied with the appearance of his teeth and wishes to have a denture fitted.
However, the doctor considers that your teeth are healthy and working well. The patient only seeks to modify his teeth for beauty; and the doctor, if he only attends to aesthetics, would not be acting ethically. What should the dentist do?
A judge A judge is presented with the case of a person who has stolen food. This person is unemployed, has not eaten for several days and has no way to buy food. How would the judge act?
A doctor A person has been in the Intensive Care room for months. He breathes automatically through apparatus (if they are removed, he dies). Electroencephalograms show no brain activity.
Every day the person's mother goes to visit her. Should the doctor consider disconnecting the person? We have already reached the end.
To check what you have learned, I suggest you leave an example of an ethical dilemma in the comments. If you liked it and you have learned , give it a like and subscribe to the channel. I wish you a happy day.
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