Theories of Ethical Dilemma Assessment

Philosophy: ethics

Sociology 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Ethical dilemma...............................................................................................................................2
Theories of ethical dilemma............................................................................................................3
Utilitarism (act and rule) Bentham & Mill..................................................................................3
Ethics of duty (Immanuel Kant)..................................................................................................3
Consequentialism.........................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
An ethical dilemma or paradox ethical is a decision making issue among the two probable
moral imperatives that say neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The
paper aims to talk about the ethical dilemma and also to provide the possible solution that can
solve this dilemma based on the different theories of an ethical dilemma that are identified in the
literature. The ethical dilemma that has been focused in this report is that “your friend tells you
in confidence that she wants to kill herself are you going to her parents”.
Ethical dilemma
One of the friends, who are very close to me, shared every element of her life told me in
confidence that she wants to kill herself. She revealed this to me with the expectation that I will
not share anything with anyone for which she was confident enough. She wants to kill herself
which means that she wants to suicide which made me amazed with the facts. In this condition,
the ethical dilemma that occurs is that you are going to tell this to her parents or will keep as it
was said by her by keeping you in the confidence. In this situation, it is required to decide on the
ways to get the dilemma solved. There are different reasons due to which the friend said to
attempt the suicide which includes being depressed, sad, worried, and other symptoms which are
not making them deal with them. The major ethical dilemma that occurs in this situation is
whether to disclose the fact about the suicide of the friend or to keep it confidential as a friend
told in confidence that you will not share.

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Theories of ethical dilemma
Utilitarianism (act and rule) Bentham & Mill
Utilitarianism is normative ethics which shows that an action is right if it is done with the
motive to promote the happiness and action is wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of the
happiness (Reamer, 2019). This can be said that this theory of ethics reflects the rightness or
wrongness of the act that majorly depends on the motive of the person (Mondal, 2016). This
theory is known for the act and rule, in which the act utilitarian is related to the theory of the
objective rightness, but on the other hand rule utilitarian is related to the theory of moral
obligations (Zwitter, 2019). In this case, the application of this theory shows that as per the act
utilitarian, the parents should know about it and it is required to be disclosing for the benefits of
the friend's life and also for saving the life of a friend. However, being the friend when it comes
to the rule, it is a moral obligation for not disclosing the facts. In this case, it is suggested that
there should be a disclosure of the conversation between friends to the parents to save a life.
Ethics of duty (Immanuel Kant)
Kant’s theory is an example of one of the well-known theory that is deontological. As per
this theory, wrongness or rightness of the action doesn’t reply on their consequences but on
whether they accomplish their duty (Mir, 2019). In this case, the friend must inform the parents
about their child thought for killing herself. This action is considered as right for saving the life
of her but wrong for not abiding with the duty of being trustworthy in friend’s eye. The most
important thing in this situation is to save the life of friend for their parents irrespective of the
fact that this action will be considered as wrong for the friend who shared the things in full
confidence (Woodard, 2019). This means that disclosure to the parents is considered as rightness

Sociology 4
of the action. Also, one of the actions that can be taken is consoled the friend and motivates her
to confront the same to their parents which will help her to stop by not taking any action. The
parents will be able to understand the situation better and help her. This will take place once
there will be motivation among her to share the same thought with her parents. This motivation
is one of the right steps that can be taken to a safe friend.
Consequentialism
This ethical dilemma can be understood with the help of the theory of consequentialism
which is the class of normative ethical theories holding the consequences of one’s conduct that
are the ultimate basis of any judgement about the rightness of that conduct (Eggleston, 2020). In
this ethical dilemma, the friend is confused with the fact that keeping the things confidential is
right for the friend but the action which she is taking of killing herself is wrong. However, on the
hand informing about the action that she will take to the parents is right as it allows saving the
life of her. In case, there will not be a disclosure of the things to the parents then it will be
harmful to the friend as she will attempt suicide. Killing herself will leave the family in sadness
and they will not be able to manage life in the right manner. Thus, one of the most important
decisions that are required to be taken is to disclose the parents about the actions that will be
taken for saving a life.

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Conclusion
In the end, this can be said that ethical dilemma generally occurs when one person shares
something and takes the promise for not sharing it to others but it is required to be share. In this
case, the ethical dilemma occurred when a friend tells you in confidence that she wants to kill
herself are you going to her parents. The analysis of the possible solutions is analysed with the
help of the theories which include Utilitarism (act and rule) Bentham & Mill theory, Ethics of
duty (Immanuel Kant) and consequentialism. All these theories help in understanding the
possible solutions. The major decision that is required to be taken includes disclosing the facts
about her that she is thinking of killing herself as it will save the life of the people.

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References
Eggleston, B. (2020). Consequentialism and Respect: Two Strategies for Justifying Act
Utilitarianism. Utilitas, 32(1), 1-18.
Mir, Z. (2019). Kant's Account of Our Moral Obligations Concerning Animals: Animals in
Kantian Ethics.
Mondal, A. L. (2016). Mill’s Critique of Bentham’s Utilitarianism. International Journal of
Philosophy Study (IJPS), 4, 13-21.
Reamer, F. G. (2019). Ethical theories and social work practice. The Routledge Handbook of
Social Work Ethics and Values.
Woodard, C. (2019). Taking Utilitarianism Seriously. Oxford University Press.
Zwitter, M. (2019). Ethical Theories. In Medical Ethics in Clinical Practice (pp. 15-22).
Springer, Cham.