The following dilemmas ask you to respond with decisions based on moral reason- ing. After thinking carefully about each situation, do the following:

Describe the decision that you would make in this situation and explain why.
Identify the moral value(s) or principle(s) on which you based your decision.
At the conclusion of the activity, compare the moral values that you used. Did you find that you consistently used the same values to make decisions, or did you use different values? If you used different ones, how did the various values relate to one another?
Based on this analysis, describe your general conclusions about your own moral compass.

  1. The Lifeboat: You are the captain, and your ship struck an iceberg and sank. There are thirty survivors, but they are crowded into a lifeboat designed to hold just seven. With the weather stormy and getting worse, it is obvious that many of the passengers will have to be thrown out of the lifeboat, or it will sink and everyone will drown. Will you have people thrown over the side? If so, on what basis will you decide who will go? Age? Health? Strength? Gender? Size?
  2. The Whistle-Blower: You are employed by a large corporation that manufactures baby formula. You suspect that a flaw in the manufacturing process has resulted in contamination of the formula in a small number of cases. This contamination can result in serious illness, even death. You have been told by your supervisor that everything is under control and warned that if you blow the whistle by going public, you will be putting the entire company in jeopardy from multimillion- dollar lawsuits. You will naturally be fired and blackballed in the industry. As the sole provider in your household, your family depends on you. What do you do?

3 The Mad Bomber: You are a police lieutenant heading an investigation of a series of bombings that have resulted in extensive damage, injuries, and deaths. Your big break comes when you capture the person who you are certain is the so-called mad bomber. However, he tells you that he has placed a number of devices in public locations and that they will explode, at the cost of many innocent lives and injuries. You believe that your only chance of extracting the locations of these bombs is to torture this person until he tells. If you decide

to do this, both your career and the legal case against the mad bomber will be placed in jeopardy. What do you do?

  1. The Patient: As a clinical psychologist, you are committed to protecting the privacy of your patients. One afternoon, a patient tells you that her husband, who has been abusing her physically and mentally for years, has threatened to kill her, and she believes he will. You try to convince her to leave him, but she tells you that she has decided to kill him. She is certain that he would find her wherever she went, and she feels that she will be safe only when he is dead. What do you do?
  2. The Friend: As the director of your department, you are in charge of filling an important vacancy. Many people have applied, including your best friend, who has been out of work for over a year and needs a job desperately. Although your friend would likely perform satisfactorily, there are several more experienced and talented candidates who would undoubtedly perform better. You have always prided yourself on hiring the best people, and you have earned a reputation as someone with high standards who will not compromise your striving for excellence. Whom do you hire?

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