moral dilemma
Right versus right
A moral dilemma is a situation where someone must choose between options that each violate an ethical principle—there's no clean path forward.
Classic examples pit values against each other: telling the truth versus sparing someone's feelings, loyalty to a friend versus duty to report wrongdoing.
The doctor faced a moral dilemma: save one patient or use those resources to save three others.
The term sometimes applies loosely to any difficult decision with ethical dimensions.
- inner turmoilPsychological distress within oneself
- utilitarianismGreatest-happiness moral theory
- whistleblowingExposing hidden wrongdoing internally
- ambivalenceConflicting emotions coexisting
- rock and a hard placeSituation with only bad choices
tough call · guilt · cognitive dissonance · torn · deontology · betrayal · stakeholder analysis · trolley problem · consequentialism · greater good · soul-searching · gut feeling · self-doubt · medical triage · legal constraints · indecision · compromise · empathy
- moralityimmoral, ethics, right and wrong, conscience, ethical principles
- dramaTV drama, acting, television drama, drama school, playwright
- drama themesrevenge, betrayal, forbidden love, love triangle, family conflict
- inner turmoilinner turmoil, inner conflict, inner struggle, self-doubt, indecision
- moralsethics lessons, conscience, principles, values, ethics
- soap operassoap opera, telenovela, melodrama, cliffhanger, amnesia
moral dilemmaforegone conclusion
Result assumed beforehand
Hobson's choice · forced hand · path of least resistance · automatic response