30+ Ethical Dilemma Examples

Ethical dilemmas present challenging situations where individuals must choose between conflicting moral principles. These scenarios often arise in various fields, from medicine to business, and compel individuals to weigh the consequences of their decisions. In an ethical dilemma, there is no clear right or wrong answer, making the resolution process complex and deeply personal. This article explores the nature of ethical dilemmas, examines notable examples, and provides frameworks for navigating these tough choices with integrity and thoughtfulness.

What is Ethical Dilemma? – Definition

An ethical dilemma is a problem that occurs in a person’s decision-making process, which has decisions that have large consequences for the people involved in the problem. These types of problems are often confusing and difficult to answer due to the complexity of the situation. The person has to take note and understand various elements, themes, and tones that contribute to the overall context of the ethical situation.

Ethical Dilemmas Examples

1. Medical Decision-Making: A doctor must decide whether to respect a terminally ill patient’s wish to refuse treatment or to intervene to save their life.
2. Confidentiality vs. Safety: A therapist learns that a client plans to harm someone but has sworn confidentiality.
3. Whistleblowing: An employee discovers illegal activities within their company but fears losing their job if they report it.
4. Use of Force: A police officer must decide whether to use force in a situation where a suspect appears threatening but unarmed.
5. Academic Integrity: A student finds a way to cheat on an important exam and must choose between honesty and a better grade.
6. Resource Allocation: A hospital must decide how to allocate limited resources like ventilators during a pandemic.
7. Animal Testing: A researcher must balance the potential human benefits of their work against the ethical concerns of using animals for testing.
8. Advertising Ethics: A marketing professional must decide whether to use potentially misleading claims to boost sales.
9. Conflict of Interest: A journalist has a financial interest in a company they are assigned to cover.
10. Environmental Responsibility: A company must choose between cost-saving measures that harm the environment and more expensive, eco-friendly alternatives.
11. Cultural Sensitivity: A business must decide whether to respect local customs that conflict with its ethical standards.
12. Data Privacy: A tech company must choose between collecting user data for profit and respecting users’ privacy rights.
13. Euthanasia: A family must decide whether to support a terminally ill loved one’s wish for assisted suicide.
14. Genetic Engineering: Scientists debate the ethical implications of editing human genes to prevent diseases.
15. Charity Allocation: A nonprofit organization must decide which causes to fund with its limited resources.
16. Freedom of Speech: A social media platform must balance the need for open discourse with the responsibility to prevent hate speech.
17. End-of-Life Care: A family must decide whether to continue life support for a loved one in a vegetative state.
18. Employee Surveillance: A company must decide whether to monitor employees’ activities to prevent theft or respect their privacy.
19. Artificial Intelligence: Developers must consider the ethical implications of creating AI systems that could replace human jobs.
20. Corporate Social Responsibility: A business must choose between maximizing profits and contributing to social causes.
21. Journalistic Ethics: A reporter must decide whether to publish a story that could harm someone’s reputation but serves the public interest.
22. Patient Autonomy: A doctor must decide whether to honor a patient’s request for an unproven treatment.
23. Military Decisions: A soldier must choose between following orders and protecting innocent civilians.
24. Privacy vs. Security: Governments must balance the need for surveillance to ensure national security with the right to individual privacy.
25. Research Ethics: A scientist must decide whether to manipulate data to achieve desirable results.
26. Corporate Governance: Board members must choose between actions that benefit shareholders and those that benefit employees and the community.
27. Financial Reporting: An accountant must decide whether to report financial irregularities that could damage their company.
28. Medical Research: Researchers must decide whether to continue a study that shows promising results but also serious side effects.
29. Cultural Relativism: An international NGO must decide whether to intervene in local practices that violate human rights.
30. Public Health vs. Individual Rights: Health officials must decide whether to impose quarantines to prevent disease spread, infringing on individual freedoms.

Real Life Examples of Ethical Dilemmas

1. Medical Decisions:
   • End-of-Life Care: A doctor might face an ethical dilemma when deciding whether to continue life-sustaining treatment for a terminally ill patient who is suffering and has little chance of recovery.
   • Allocation of Resources: During a health crisis, such as a pandemic, healthcare professionals may need to decide who receives limited resources like ventilators or ICU beds.
2. Business Ethics:
   • Whistleblowing: An employee discovers their company is engaging in illegal or unethical practices. They must decide whether to report it, potentially risking their job and personal well-being, or stay silent.
   • Fair Labor Practices: A company must choose between outsourcing production to a country with cheaper labor but poor working conditions and keeping production local but at a higher cost.
3. Legal and Justice:
   • Defending the Guilty: A defense attorney knows their client is guilty but must still provide the best possible defense, as everyone has a right to legal representation.
   • Sentencing: A judge must decide between a lenient sentence that might help rehabilitate a young offender and a harsher one that could serve as a deterrent to others.
4. Environmental Ethics:
   • Development vs. Conservation: A community must decide whether to allow a new development project that could bring economic benefits but would harm the local environment and wildlife.
   • Pollution: A company must choose between cheaper manufacturing processes that pollute the environment and more expensive, environmentally friendly options.
5. Personal Relationships:
   • Loyalty vs. Honesty: A friend discovers another friend’s spouse is cheating. They must decide whether to tell their friend, which could cause pain, or keep the secret to avoid hurting them.
   • Family Obligations: An individual must choose between pursuing a career opportunity in another city or staying close to home to care for an aging parent.
6. Technology and Privacy:
   • Data Privacy: A tech company must decide whether to sell user data to advertisers to generate revenue or protect users’ privacy at the expense of potential profits.
   • AI and Automation: A company must choose between adopting automation, which could increase efficiency but lead to significant job losses, or maintaining current employment levels.
7. Education:
   • Standardized Testing: An educator might face the dilemma of teaching to the test to ensure high scores, which can benefit the school and students’ futures, or providing a more well-rounded education that might not directly improve test scores.
   • Grading Fairness: A teacher must decide whether to give a struggling student a passing grade out of sympathy or hold them to the same standards as other students.

Ethical Dilemma Examples for Students

1. Cheating on a Test
   • You studied hard for a math test, but your best friend, who didn’t study, asks to copy your answers during the test. Do you help them or not?
2. Finding Money
   • You find a wallet with $50 on the school playground. Inside the wallet, there is also a student ID card. Do you keep the money or try to return it to the owner?
3. Plagiarism
   • You have a big project due tomorrow and you haven’t started it. You find a perfect essay online. Do you submit it as your own work?
4. Cyberbullying
   • You see a popular student at your school posting mean comments about another student on social media. Do you report it, confront the bully, or ignore it?
5. Loyalty vs. Honesty
   • Your friend tells you that they are going to cheat on a major exam. If you tell a teacher, your friend might get into serious trouble. If you don’t, your friend’s actions could unfairly impact others. What do you do?
6. Peer Pressure
   • Your friends pressure you to skip class and hang out at a local park. If you don’t go, they might stop inviting you to hang out with them. Do you go with them or attend your classes?
7. Substance Use
   • At a party, someone offers you alcohol or drugs. You know it’s illegal and dangerous, but you don’t want to seem uncool. How do you handle the situation?
8. Online Privacy
   • You accidentally discover the password to a classmate’s social media account. Do you log in and snoop around, change the password to lock them out, or tell them about it?
9. Environmental Responsibility
   • You notice that the school cafeteria uses a lot of single-use plastics. Do you organize a campaign to encourage more sustainable practices, or do you stay silent?
10. Fairness in Group Work
    • In a group project, one member isn’t contributing at all, but they expect to get the same grade as everyone else. Do you talk to the teacher about it or let it slide?
11. Lying to Protect a Friend
    • Your friend did something against school rules and the principal is investigating. Your friend asks you to lie to cover for them. Do you lie or tell the truth?
12. Exclusion in Social Groups
    • Your group of friends decides to exclude a classmate who wants to join your lunch table. Do you stand up for the excluded student or go along with your friends?
13. Sharing Sensitive Information
    • A friend confides in you about a personal problem, but you think they might need professional help. Do you keep their secret or tell an adult who can help?
14. Competing Priorities
    • You have a big sports game on the same day as a family event. Your coach expects you to play, but your parents want you at the family event. How do you decide where to go?
15. Respect for Different Opinions
    • In a class discussion, a student expresses an opinion that you strongly disagree with. Do you challenge their opinion respectfully, ignore it, or get into an argument?

Ethical dilemma in business

An ethical dilemma in business occurs when a company or individual faces a situation where there are conflicting moral principles or ethical obligations, making it difficult to determine the right course of action. These dilemmas often involve decisions that can impact stakeholders such as employees, customers, shareholders, and the community. The challenge lies in balancing profitability and competitiveness with ethical considerations such as fairness, transparency, and social responsibility.

Examples of Ethical dilemma in business

Employee Privacy vs. Employer’s Right to Monitor

• Scenario: A company wants to monitor employees’ computer usage to ensure productivity and prevent misuse of company resources. However, employees feel this invades their privacy.
• Dilemma: Balancing the need for security and productivity with respecting employee privacy.

2. Product Safety vs. Profit

• Scenario: A company discovers that a product has a minor defect that could potentially harm a small percentage of users. The cost of recalling and fixing the product is substantial.
• Dilemma: Choosing between prioritizing customer safety and incurring significant financial losses.

3. Environmental Responsibility vs. Economic Gain

• Scenario: A manufacturing company can save costs by disposing of waste in a less environmentally friendly manner.
• Dilemma: Deciding between higher profits and committing to environmentally sustainable practices.

4. Transparency vs. Competitive Advantage

• Scenario: A company has developed a groundbreaking technology but keeping the details secret could give it a significant market advantage.
• Dilemma: Choosing between being transparent about practices and protecting competitive interests.

5. Fair Trade vs. Low Costs

• Scenario: Sourcing materials from suppliers that exploit cheap labor but keep costs low versus using fair trade suppliers that are more expensive.
• Dilemma: Balancing cost management with ethical sourcing practices.

6. Conflict of Interest

• Scenario: An executive has a significant financial interest in a supplier company that the business is considering for a major contract.
• Dilemma: Ensuring unbiased decision-making while managing personal financial interests.

7. Whistleblowing

• Scenario: An employee discovers that their company is engaging in illegal or unethical practices. Reporting this could lead to personal repercussions and harm the company’s reputation.
• Dilemma: Balancing the moral obligation to expose wrongdoing with the potential personal and professional risks.

8. Pricing Strategies

• Scenario: A pharmaceutical company has a life-saving drug and is debating how much to charge for it. Higher prices could make the drug unaffordable for many, but lower prices could limit the company’s ability to fund future research.
• Dilemma: Setting prices that balance profitability and accessibility.

9. Cultural Sensitivity vs. Market Expansion

• Scenario: A company wants to expand into a new international market but faces cultural practices that conflict with its ethical standards.
• Dilemma: Deciding whether to adapt to local customs that may be ethically questionable or maintaining company values, potentially losing business.

10. Advertising Ethics

• Scenario: A company considers using exaggerated claims in advertising to boost sales.
• Dilemma: Weighing the benefits of increased sales against the potential for misleading consumers and damaging trust.

Ethical Dilemma Examples in the Workplace

1. Conflict of Interest
   • You are involved in hiring a new team member, and one of the applicants is a close friend. Do you disclose this relationship and step back from the decision-making process, or do you keep it to yourself?
2. Whistleblowing
   • You discover that your company is engaging in illegal activities, such as falsifying financial records. Do you report this to the authorities, risking your job, or stay silent to protect your position?
3. Favoritism
   • Your manager shows obvious favoritism towards a colleague, giving them the best projects and promotions. Do you confront your manager, talk to HR, or accept the situation?
4. Resource Allocation
   • You have limited resources and must decide between two projects: one that benefits the company’s profits and another that benefits employee welfare. Which do you prioritize?
5. Handling Mistakes
   • You make a mistake on a project that could have significant negative consequences. Do you own up to the mistake immediately or try to fix it quietly without informing anyone?
6. Intellectual Property
   • You have an idea that could greatly benefit your company, but it wasn’t developed during work hours. Do you present it to your employer or keep it for a personal venture?
7. Privacy vs. Transparency
   • You find out that a colleague is going through a personal crisis, which is affecting their performance. Do you inform your manager to explain the performance issues, or respect your colleague’s privacy?
8. Gifts and Bribery
   • A vendor offers you an expensive gift during the holiday season. Accepting it could be seen as a bribe. Do you accept the gift, decline it, or report it?
9. Data Privacy
   • You have access to personal data of clients that could be useful for a side project you’re working on. Do you use the data, risking privacy breaches, or refrain from using it?
10. Workplace Harassment
    • You witness a colleague being harassed by another employee. Do you intervene directly, report it to HR, or stay out of it?
11. Time Theft
    • A colleague frequently leaves work early or takes extended breaks without adjusting their timesheets. Do you report this behavior, confront them, or ignore it?
12. Diversity and Inclusion
    • You notice that your company’s hiring practices seem to overlook qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds. Do you bring this up with HR or assume it’s not your place?
13. Reporting a Colleague
    • You notice a colleague frequently making errors that could jeopardize a project. Do you report their mistakes to a supervisor, discuss it with them first, or let it go?
14. Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Your company is offered a lucrative contract from a client with a questionable reputation regarding environmental practices. Do you advise against taking the contract or go along with the company’s decision?
15. Employee Performance
    • You’re responsible for conducting performance reviews. A friend at work is underperforming. Do you give an honest review that could harm their career or a favorable one to maintain your friendship?

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing and healthcare

An ethical dilemma in nursing and healthcare arises when a healthcare professional encounters a situation where there are conflicting moral principles or ethical obligations, making it difficult to determine the right course of action. These dilemmas often involve situations where there is no clear right or wrong answer, and the decision can have significant consequences for patients, families, and healthcare providers.

Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing and Healthcare

1. End-of-Life Care: A nurse must decide whether to honor a patient’s DNR order despite the family’s insistence on resuscitation.
2. Informed Consent: A patient refuses a life-saving treatment, and the nurse must balance respecting the patient’s autonomy with the duty to advocate for their health.
3. Resource Allocation: During a pandemic, nurses must decide which patients receive limited life-saving treatments like ventilators.
4. Patient Privacy vs. Public Safety: A nurse must choose between maintaining patient confidentiality and informing public health authorities about a contagious disease.
5. Mandatory Reporting: A nurse suspects child abuse but lacks concrete evidence and must decide whether to report it based on suspicion alone.
6. Cultural Sensitivity: A nurse must respect a patient’s cultural beliefs that conflict with recommended medical treatments.
7. Confidentiality vs. Family Involvement: A nurse must decide whether to share sensitive patient information with family members who are desperate for details.
8. Pain Management: A nurse must decide whether to administer additional pain medication to a patient in severe pain despite potential addiction concerns.
9. Vaccination Refusal: A nurse faces a dilemma when parents refuse to vaccinate their child, balancing respect for parental rights with public health concerns.
10. Experimental Treatment: A nurse must decide whether to support a patient’s wish to try an unapproved experimental treatment.
11. Healthcare Access: A nurse must decide how to provide the best care to uninsured patients with limited resources.
12. Professional Boundaries: A nurse develops a close relationship with a patient and must navigate maintaining professional boundaries.
13. Moral Distress: A nurse feels morally distressed when forced to participate in procedures that conflict with personal ethical beliefs.
14. Conflict of Interest: A nurse must decide whether to recommend a particular treatment when aware of a potential financial benefit to the healthcare facility.
15. Whistleblowing: A nurse discovers unethical practices in the workplace and must decide whether to report them, risking job security.

How to Solve Ethical Dilemma

Identify the Problem

• Clearly define the ethical issue.
• Determine who is affected by the dilemma.

2. Gather Information

• Collect all relevant facts.
• Understand the context and background of the dilemma.
• Identify the stakeholders involved.

3. Consider the Principles

• Reflect on ethical principles such as honesty, fairness, justice, and respect for others.
• Consider relevant laws and professional guidelines.

4. Evaluate the Options

• Generate a list of possible actions.
• Assess each option by considering the potential consequences for all stakeholders.
• Think about the long-term vs. short-term impact.

5. Seek Advice

• Consult with trusted colleagues, mentors, or ethical committees.
• Seek diverse perspectives to avoid personal bias.

6. Make a Decision

• Choose the option that aligns best with ethical principles and has the most favorable balance of outcomes.
• Ensure the decision is practical and feasible.

7. Implement the Decision

• Put the chosen course of action into practice.
• Communicate the decision clearly to all affected parties.

8. Reflect and Review

• After implementation, review the outcomes of the decision.
• Reflect on what was learned and how the process can be improved for future dilemmas.

Types of Ethical Dilemma

Here are some common types of ethical dilemmas

1. Conflict of Interest:
   • Description: This occurs when a person or organization has multiple interests, and serving one interest might work against another. For example, a doctor who owns a stake in a pharmaceutical company might face a conflict between prescribing the best medication for a patient and promoting the company’s drugs.
   • Example: A financial advisor who receives a commission for selling certain investment products may face a dilemma between recommending the best option for the client and promoting the product that earns them the highest commission.
2. Truth vs. Loyalty:
   • Description: This dilemma involves a conflict between telling the truth and being loyal to a person or organization. For instance, an employee might know about unethical practices in their company but feel loyal to their employer or colleagues.
   • Example: An employee discovers that their close friend and coworker is falsifying expense reports. Reporting the friend would be truthful but could damage their relationship.
3. Individual vs. Community:
   • Description: This type of dilemma arises when the needs or rights of an individual conflict with the needs or rights of a larger group. For example, quarantine measures during a pandemic protect public health but restrict individual freedoms.
   • Example: A public health official must decide whether to disclose the identity of a person with a contagious disease to protect the community, potentially violating the individual’s privacy.
4. Short-term vs. Long-term:
   • Description: This dilemma involves making a choice between immediate benefits and long-term consequences. For instance, using non-renewable resources might provide short-term economic benefits but have negative long-term environmental impacts.
   • Example: A company considers cutting costs by reducing its environmental safeguards, which would boost short-term profits but could lead to long-term environmental damage.
5. Justice vs. Mercy:
   • Description: This dilemma occurs when there is a conflict between fairness and compassion. For example, a judge might face a decision between enforcing a strict punishment (justice) and showing leniency due to extenuating circumstances (mercy).
   • Example: A manager must decide whether to terminate an underperforming employee who is struggling due to personal issues, balancing the need for workplace efficiency with compassion for the employee’s situation.
6. Professional vs. Personal Ethics:
   • Description: This dilemma arises when professional duties conflict with personal values or ethics. For example, a lawyer might have to defend a client they personally believe is guilty.
   • Example: A journalist is assigned to cover a story that conflicts with their personal beliefs or values, challenging their professional responsibility to remain unbiased.
7. Privacy vs. Safety:
   • Description: This type of dilemma involves balancing the right to privacy with the need for safety and security. For instance, surveillance measures can enhance security but may infringe on individuals’ privacy rights.
   • Example: A government considers implementing widespread surveillance to prevent terrorist attacks, raising concerns about citizens’ privacy.
8. Autonomy vs. Paternalism:
   • Description: This dilemma arises when there is a conflict between respecting an individual’s autonomy and making decisions for their own good (paternalism). For instance, a doctor might face a decision between respecting a patient’s refusal of treatment and intervening to save their life.
   • Example: A parent must decide whether to allow their teenager to make their own choices about school and career, respecting their autonomy, or to intervene to guide them toward what the parent believes is best.

How to Act and Answer an Ethical Dilemma in One’s Life

Ethical dilemmas sometimes appear in one’s life and cause the receiver to experience large amounts of stress the ethical dilemma creates. Not only that but the person will be at risk of cognitive dissonance when a person solves an ethical dilemma, which is highly dependent on the outcome conflicting with the person’s objectives, goals, ethics, and core values. If you want to learn more and understand various ethical dilemmas, you may use the various ethical dilemma examples in nursing, ethical dilemma examples in learning, and more on the links above.

Step 1: Analyze the Situation

Begin by analyzing the ethical dilemma. This means that you must try to deconstruct the dilemma you are in and take into account the various elements in play. You must determine if the dilemma is an ethical dilemma or a moral dilemma, as these have various observable connotations.

Step 2: List Out the Benefits and Consequences of Each Choice

If you have the time, you should try and list out the benefits and consequences each choice brings into play. This will help bring into perspective what each choice can bring to the table.

Step 3: Try to Create or Generate More Alternatives

If possible, you can brainstorm or conduct an introspective to try and generate or create more choices to answer the ethical dilemma. There might be possible alternatives that might not present themselves unless one thinks deeply about them.

Step 4a: Use the Value-Centered Approach

One of the best ways to answer an ethical dilemma is through the value-centered approach. This approach focuses more on the choice that creates the most value or benefits for the person making the said choice.

Step 4b: Choose the Choice that Brings the Least Amount of Consequences

Another way to answer an ethical dilemma is by choosing a choice that will bring the least amount of consequences to the people involved and affected by the ethical dilemma. This will require the person to weigh the benefits or consequences incurred by the choices.

Existence of ethical dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas are situations in which there is a conflict between two or more moral principles, making it challenging to decide on the right course of action. These dilemmas often arise in various aspects of life, including personal decisions, professional conduct, and societal issues. Here are a few examples illustrating the existence of ethical dilemmas:

1. Medical Decisions: Healthcare professionals often face ethical dilemmas when deciding between treatments that might save a life but cause significant suffering, or when resources are limited and they must choose which patient to prioritize.
2. Business Practices: Companies might encounter ethical dilemmas when balancing profit with social responsibility. For example, a business may need to decide whether to cut costs by outsourcing labor to countries with lower wages and poorer working conditions.
3. Legal and Criminal Justice: Lawyers and judges may face ethical dilemmas in cases where the law conflicts with personal moral beliefs or when defending a client they know to be guilty.
4. Environmental Issues: Ethical dilemmas arise when considering the trade-off between economic development and environmental conservation, such as deciding whether to support industries that provide jobs but also cause pollution.
5. Personal Relationships: Individuals might encounter ethical dilemmas in their personal lives, such as choosing between telling the truth and sparing someone’s feelings or deciding whether to intervene in a friend’s harmful behavior.