Your goal is to find or create an ethical
dilemma, research and propose a potential solution following a step-by-step
process. You need to research your issue, the ethical schools of thought
(theories) you believe are applicable, the pros and cons, and then conclude
with your final proposal. An ethical dilemma is a problem having an ethical
component to it. A simple example is finding a wallet with money it and
identification; should you return it? Why? How do you make your decision? For
this case study, you need a more complex ethical dilemma.
Main Steps
1. Obtain
relevant facts of the issue; address why it’s important. At this level, you
should address at least what you know about the situation – as well as what you
don’t know; even more significant is the amount of time available. Often this
is the determining factor in what will ultimately be done.
2. Identify
the main ethical issues; usually there are 1 or 2 main ethical issues, and
several sub-issues stemming from the key issues; try to cover main problem(s) and
then 1 sub-issue if possible.
3. Determine
who or what is affected by these dilemmas; who are the stakeholders? Who wins,
loses? Who is helped by this? Who is hurt? Why?
4. Identify
viable solutions/options based on 2 ethical schools of thought we’re studying
this semester. For example: utilitarianism, egoism, virtue ethics, social
contract, deontology, – or any version of these. At this point, you may want to
rank them from best to worst by considering which is the least problematic, yet
still most effective. This can be quite difficult.
5. Identify
at least 1-2 specific consequences – both long-term/short term- for each
alternative/school of thought. Explain in detail and use examples.
6. Make
a choice (in your conclusion) and
provide a philosophical argument supporting why your solution is the best by
comparing and contrasting the benefits and liabilities of your solution to the
one(s) you believe is/are the worst and/or second best. You may want to integrate a discussion on the
original circumstances which created this dilemma in the first place – and how
it might be avoided in the future.
