Ethical Dilemma Research Paper

An ethical dilemma refers to a situation in which one must make a difficult choice between two courses of action, either of which entails transgressing a moral principle. The following development presents an ethical dilemma and attempts to identify its features that would lead ethicists to disagree on what to do. Let us imagine that you are chasing the car of the man who just kidnapped your son at the amusement park, while you were having a phone call. At some point, the kidnapper reaches a three-way intersection and he runs over a lady and her daughter who happened to be crossing the street at that time. Meanwhile, another reckless driver runs a red light and enters the intersection from your right-side at high speed. It is very unlikely that the driver will have enough time to slow down or to avoid the injured woman

A self-interest decision will lead you to avoid the pedestrians and keep chasing the kidnapper. By doing this, you ensure that you do not lose sight of the abductor and you maintain a chance that your son will be freed. Ultimately, your goal is to save your child no matter what happens. Your son does not have anybody else to rely on but you since you are secluded from the rest of the world without your phone. This means that letting the kidnaper go means that you may not be able to see your child again and such thought is dreaded by any parents. On the other hand, it also means that you choose not to save two other innocent lives. One can question the morality of this decision because if you had watched your son carefully, the kidnapper would have never had the opportunity to get him and the pedestrians would have never been involved. Therefore, you are morally obligated to save the pedestrians who are in a sense mere victims of your inattention. Moreover, you will have to live with this burden the rest of your