Moral Residue and Dilemmas

Abstract

Abstract A moral dilemma is a situation in which each of two things ought to be done but both cannot be done. Restricted to single agents, a dilemma is a situation in which a person ought to do A, ought to do B, and cannot do both A and B. In order for a moral conflict to count as a genuine dilemma, the conflicting obligations or moral requirements must at least be such that neither overrides the other. If one moral requirement does override another, we have a resolvable conflict but not a dilemma. But in a genuine dilemma, not only must the conflicting requirements both be non-overridden, they must also both issue in ought-all-things-considered moral judgments. Also, genuine moral dilemmas are ontological, not merely epistemic; the truth of the conflicting ought statements is independent of the agent’s beliefs.