Buzz
Debating morality is always an intriguing experience. Back in late December, I shared a list of 10 other moral dilemmas. From the feedback, it seemed that many felt those scenarios didn’t spark enough debate. So, I’ve put together another set of 10 dilemmas, which I believe will provoke deeper thought and more agonizing choices than the previous ones. I’d love to hear your thoughts and responses in the comments.
10. The Doctor’s Dilemma: Saving the Sick
You are an exceptionally talented doctor with five critically ill patients, each requiring a different organ for survival. Unfortunately, no donor organs are available. Just then, you have a sixth patient who is also terminally ill and will die sooner than the others unless treated. If this sixth patient dies, you can use their organs to save the five others. However, you possess a medicine that could cure this sixth patient, preventing their death. What would you do?
a: Allow the patient to die and then use their organs for transplants or b: Save the patient, even though the other patients will not receive the needed organs.
If you chose to administer the medicine, would you still proceed even if the medicine would not cure the patient, but merely postpone their death to a time after the five patients have passed? Why or why not?
9. The Robin Hood Dilemma
You witness a man committing a robbery at a bank, but then he does something completely unexpected. Rather than keeping the stolen money for himself, he donates it to a poor orphanage that lacks basic necessities such as food, clean water, and proper care. The money would greatly improve the lives of the children there, transforming their situation from poverty to prosperity. What would you do?
a: Call the authorities and report the robbery, even though it might result in the money being taken away from the orphanage, or b: Do nothing and let the robber and the orphanage be?
8. The Dilemma of a Friend’s Wedding
Your best friend is about to marry in one hour, but just before the ceremony, you discover that his fiancée has been having an affair. If your friend marries her, it’s likely she will not remain faithful, yet telling him about the affair will ruin his wedding day. Would you tell him the truth or remain silent?
7. The Plagiarized Report
As the head of the student council at your high school, you are confronted with a tough decision involving a grade-twelve student’s desperate last-minute choice. She’s an honor student who has maintained straight A’s, has a solid reputation, and has never faced disciplinary action. However, in her final year, she caught a flu and fell behind on her coursework, missing three weeks of classes. One of her assignments, worth 40% of her English grade, is vital for graduation, and in her panic, she copied a report she found online. Her English teacher caught her, and now it’s up to you. If you mark the incident as plagiarism on her record, she may lose her chance of getting into St. Steven’s University, the school she’s always dreamed of attending and needs to fulfill her academic and professional aspirations. What would you do?
6. The Photo Shop Dilemma
You work at a photo development shop, and over the past few weeks, you’ve processed photos for the same couple. In every set of photos, there’s a young boy who seems to be their son. In three out of six times, the child appears injured—once with a bruise, another time with a burn, and yet another time with multiple bruises and a cast. Initially, you brushed it off as typical childhood accidents, but now that it’s happened three times, you’re starting to worry that these parents may be abusing their child.
The policy at your outlet is to report any suspicious photos, but you worry that doing so could lead to the police taking extreme actions to 'protect' the child. The parents might be completely innocent, yet the child protective services might take the child away without considering the truth. This could leave the parents facing criminal charges, a costly legal battle, and possibly years of trying to regain custody, even if they’re found innocent.
On the other hand, if the parents are indeed abusing their son, failing to act could lead to even more harm and suffering, potentially without end. You think about asking the parents directly about their relationship with the child, but they might simply lie to cover up their actions. What would you do?
5. The Fountain of Youth Dilemma
A person (the opposite gender of you) has become immortal due to drinking from the fountain of youth, unknowingly. You have fallen deeply in love with them, and you feel they are your destined partner. However, the only way to stay together forever is if you, too, drink from the fountain and become immortal. But if you do so, your family and everyone you know will grow old and eventually pass away, and you will never reunite with them, even in the afterlife. If you choose not to drink, you will grow old and eventually die, while the person you love will live forever, alone and sorrowful. What would you do? (From *Tuck Everlasting*, by Natalie Babbitt)
4. Revised Concentration Camp Scenario
You are a prisoner in a concentration camp, and a cruel guard is about to hang your son, who attempted to escape. The guard demands that you pull the chair out from under him, threatening to kill both your son and your other innocent child if you refuse. There is no doubt in your mind that the guard will carry out his threat. What would you do?
3. The Dilemma of Friendship
Jim is tasked with filling a position in his company. His friend Paul, who is qualified, has applied, but there is another candidate who seems even more suited for the role. Jim wants to give the job to Paul but feels guilty, thinking he should be impartial. At first, he tells himself that morality requires neutrality. However, Jim rejects this notion, deciding that friendship holds enough moral weight to justify, or even require, favoritism in some situations. So, he offers the job to Paul. Was this the right decision?
2. The Son’s Sacrifice
A malicious and uncontrollable murderer once tried to kill your infant son, but instead, he ended up killing your son’s aunt and uncle, who were babysitting him. After fleeing into hiding, you learn from a prophecy that, during the attempt on your son’s life, a fragment of the murderer’s soul transferred into your son. To defeat the murderer once and for all, your son must willingly let himself be killed by the murderer, so the piece of the villain’s soul within him can be destroyed. If this doesn't happen, the villain will be able to return if his body is destroyed. Your son bravely accepts his fate, knowing that he must die to ensure peace in the world. As his parent, would you:
a: Try to prevent him from sacrificing himself, as your love for him as a parent makes it unbearable to let him go, or b: Respect his decision, accepting his fate as he has, and allow him to die. (Modified from *Harry Potter* by J.K. Rowling)
1. A Son and His Granddaughter
A train is barreling down the tracks, and, to your horror, your adult son is tied to them. Just in time, you realize you can flip a switch that will divert the train to another track, saving your son. But, on the other track, is your granddaughter, your son’s own daughter. Your son desperately begs you not to flip the switch, urging you not to kill his child. What do you do?
