moral crisis
Values under siege
A moral crisis is a situation demanding urgent ethical decision-making, often when established values conflict or fail to provide clear guidance.
It may be personal—facing a choice that tests one's integrity—or societal, when institutions or cultures confront widespread ethical failures: The scandal triggered a moral crisis in the organization.
The phrase implies that ordinary moral frameworks feel inadequate to the challenge at hand.
- ethicalConforming to moral principles
- dilemmaForced choice between undesirables
- conscienceInternal moral sense
- scandalDisgraceful public affair
- fall from graceLoss of status or reputation
corruption · integrity · downfall · reckoning · guilt · shame · betrayal · values · judgment · moment of truth · accountability · soul-searching · crossroads · transgression · failing · temptation · decay · erosion
- conscience in literatureguilt, inner voice, remorse, inner struggle, soul-searching
- existentialismexistence, authenticity, existential angst, angst, nothingness
moral crisismoral clarity
Unambiguous sense of right
clear conscience · righteousness · virtue · ethical integrity · moral certainty
moral crisisfinancial crisis
Severe economic system breakdown
economic crisis · political crisis · health crisis · technical difficulty
moral, crisis, morals, morality, morally, immoral, immorality, amoral, amorality