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Ethical Dilemmas
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An employee discovers her company is dumping toxic waste illegally but fears losing her job if she reports it.
Approaches: Virtue ethics (courage to do the right thing), Utilitarianism (prevent harm to the environment), Deontological ethics (duty to uphold the law). Resolution might involve anonymous reporting or whistleblowing protections.
A teacher is pressured to change a student's grade for the benefit of the school's reputation.
Approaches: Deontological ethics (duty to academic integrity), Virtue ethics (honesty and fairness), Consequentialism (considering consequences for the school and student). Resolution could stick to fair grading or find alternative ways to improve reputation.
A coach has to decide whether to bench a star athlete who is also a poor sport and team player.
Approaches: Consequentialism (team's success), Virtue ethics (promoting teamwork and character), Deontological ethics (fairness to all team members). Resolution could involve benching the athlete with the goal of teaching a valuable team-work lesson.
A citizen discovers confidential information that reveals a politician's misconduct but was obtained illegally.
Approaches: Deontological ethics (law-breaking is wrong), Utilitarianism (relevance of the information to the public), Virtue ethics (civic duty). Resolution might involve anonymously leaking the information or seeking legal avenues to bring the misconduct to light.
A researcher has to decide whether to use animal testing to potentially save human lives.
Approaches: Rights-based ethics (animal rights), Utilitarianism (overall benefit), Virtue ethics (doing good). Resolution could involve seeking alternative testing methods or justifying the need for animal testing with clear outcomes.
A parent must decide whether to lie to their child about the existence of Santa Claus for the sake of tradition and magic.
Approaches: Virtue ethics (honesty vs. fostering imagination), Deontological ethics (truth-telling), Existentialist ethics (authenticity). Resolution could be choosing a middle path that allows for creativity while not explicitly deceiving.
A programmer is asked to develop a facial recognition system that could be used for mass surveillance.
Approaches: Rights-based ethics (privacy concerns), Consequentialism (potential abuses vs. security benefits), Virtue ethics (professional integrity). Resolution could involve setting strict usage guidelines or declining the project.
A software developer is asked to create an algorithm that may result in biased hiring practices.
Approaches: Rights-based ethics (respect for equal opportunity), Consequentialism (assessing the impact), Virtue ethics (integrity). Resolution might involve refusal to create the algorithm or ensuring proper testing for biases.
A doctor has to decide whether to allocate a scarce life-saving drug to an older patient with a higher chance of immediate survival or a younger patient with more potential years of life.
Approaches: Utilitarianism (maximize overall happiness), Deontological ethics (duty to treat all patients equally), Virtue ethics (what would a virtuous person do). Resolution could involve a fair selection process or prioritizing based on medical need.
A soldier must decide whether to follow an order that conflicts with her personal moral beliefs.
Approaches: Deontological ethics (following rules), Virtue ethics (moral character), Ethical relativism (context-based ethics). Resolution could require conscience-based objection or seeking clarification of the order.
A lawyer knows their client is guilty but must decide whether to use a legal loophole to win the case.
Approaches: Advocacy ethics (lawyer's duty to the client), Deontological ethics (respecting the legal system's rules), Virtue ethics (personal integrity). Resolution could involve exploiting the loophole or encouraging a plea bargain.
A medical professional must prioritize care for patients during a pandemic with limited resources.
Approaches: Utilitarianism (greatest good for greatest number), Deontological ethics (treat all equally), Triage ethics (most urgent medical need). Resolution involves setting transparent criteria for care that maximizes lives saved and is ethically justifiable.
A citizen must choose whether to report undocumented immigrants in their neighborhood knowing they could be deported.
Approaches: Social contract theory (obeying the law), Virtue ethics (compassion), Consequentialism (impact on individuals/families). Resolution might involve advocating for immigration reform over personal action against individuals.
A journalist must choose between respecting the privacy of an individual and publishing information that is in the public interest.
Approaches: Kantian ethics (respect for persons), Consequentialism (outcomes matter), Rights-based ethics (balancing the right to know with the right to privacy). Resolution could require careful consideration of harm vs. benefit to society.
A bystander sees a person being harassed in public and must choose whether to intervene or not.
Approaches: Virtue ethics (bravery), Social contract theory (mutual protection), Utilitarianism (maximizing wellbeing). Resolution could involve direct intervention, seeking help, or assessing the risks of intervening.
An undercover journalist must decide whether to deceive people to expose a larger truth.
Approaches: Kantian ethics (never deceive), Utilitarianism (ends justify means), Virtue ethics (courage to seek truth). Resolution might involve minimizing deception, ensuring public interests significantly outweigh the ethical breach, or transparency about the methods post-publication.
A scientist is offered a large grant to skew research results in favor of a sponsoring corporation.
Approaches: Professional ethics (scientific integrity), Consequentialism (potential harm from false data), Deontological ethics (duty to honesty). Resolution could include rejecting the offer outright or obtaining assurance for unbiased research.
A hiring manager has to choose between two candidates: one is more qualified but the other would diversify the workforce.
Approaches: Rights-based ethics (equal opportunity), Utilitarianism (company's and society's benefit), Virtue ethics (fairness and justice). Resolution might involve hiring the most qualified while simultaneously developing programs to increase workforce diversity in the long term.
A CEO must decide whether to cut jobs to keep the company profitable or keep the current workforce and risk going out of business.
Approaches: Utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest number), Deontological ethics (duty to employees), Virtue ethics (compassion). Resolution might involve a mixture of downsizing and finding new revenue sources to save as many jobs as possible.
A politician has to choose between voting for a policy that benefits their constituents but may harm the environment.
Approaches: Environmental ethics (protecting nature's integrity), Utilitarianism (weighing benefits and harms), Deontological ethics (duty to represent constituents). Resolution might involve negotiating amendments to reduce environmental impact while still benefiting constituents.
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