Free An Example of an Ethical Dilemma Essay Sample
The word ethical dilemma happens to a self-explanatory term. It normally indicates a kind of confusion that has to be related to an individual’s ethics. Ethical dilemma can be taken as a complex situation and it normally comes from two given moral imperatives of two persons. Considering some given cases, this given confusion may arise within a particular person when his personal moral principles are not in position to determine the particular right course of action. Apparently it may also exist between people and it mostly occurs owing to some existing conflicts that originate from varied ideologies. Any ethical dilemma can occur anywhere and at any given time. However mostly it is found within given workplaces. This can be explained considering that in most of the workplaces there is diversity of people. People in such an area normally come from different cultural and moral backgrounds. Given such an environment, the possibility of a conflict taking place normally it is very high. Usually most of the workplaces tend to have definite patterns of action which may at any time conflict in the employee and these results in confusion regarding whatever is supposed to be done and what is not supposed to be done.
Ethical dilemma became apparent in my life a time when I had tried to struggle on how to deal with a case whereby my friend and I encountered. Formerly I had never imagined that my closest friend, one whom we shared a lot with, could just make me suffer trying to think of whether I would lie in order to set her free or just say the truth and make her suffer of her deeds. It was quite a hard situation and I had to settle and I was troubled on how to handle the situation. I even tried to talk about the issue with my parents but this did not help either. Apparently at last I had to make my own decision and I never liked the consequences of my unwise decision.
One of my closest friends, a lady, had thought of moving out of her home place without her parent’s permission. It all started during a certain trip we had attended. The problem was that though I had permission from my parents, my friend never bothered to ask for permission. Actually she never talked of it to me and instead she lied to me that she had asked for permission from her parents. I never cared to try and fathom whether really she had the permission from her parents considering that not even a single day has she ever dared lie to me about anything. Surprisingly she was the only friend I trusted in my life and we would share much of our personal issues without the fear that any of us would expose our secrets. However this particular day till date I never believe that she lied to me. I normally think that she was very much pressured as she was sure that her parents were normally strict so they would never allow her to go anywhere regardless of how she insisted.
The problem was that my friend had decided of being defiant regarding her parents decisions not to allow her go to places with her friends. She had lied to me that her parents had no problem with her going and that she ought to take care whenever she was not around them. Apparently this made me feel quite certain that she had sought permission and I did not have to make further enquiries. During the eve night the two of us where much exhilarated as for once we had succeeded in convincing our parents. Formerly they would never condone such issues and we always had to accompany them whenever there was a tip. We merrily prepared for the trip as we discussed of how we would have fun.
The following day we set off early for the trip. We would never hide our delight as we discussed endless issues as pertains to the beautiful scenery on our way. A couple of hours after we set off, my friend’s mother called me. I never believed what she was enquiring as she demanded to know her daughter’s whereabouts. At first I became temporarily dump as I lacked words to say. I took time to think of what might have happened. I never imagined that my friend had lied to her parents regarding our trip and when I tried to recall of how her mother trusted, I would not even think of what would happen next. I tried to talk to my friend before I answered her mother of her whereabouts but I never managed that considering that her mother was now becoming furious as may be she might have noticed of my situation. I immediately hanged up her call and switched off my phone. This was quite disgusting, I thought.
Immediately I approached my friend, demanding to know why she had lied to me. It was now apparent that she had not told me the truth and that she had just sneaked away from home. This left me dumbfounded thinking of what would have happened next. I never believed this and I just went back to my sitting position thinking of what was bound to happen next. Just before I settled back thinking of what I would do, my friend came towards me and informed me that her mother had just called her and she wanted to have a talk with me. This made me feel frightened as I would never assume her call. I had developed a bated breath and I longed for power to counter this weird feeling. I made a bold step of receiving the call. The first question was “where are the two of you?” I thought of what to say and I was ready to say the truth when my friend whispered that would be worst part of her life. I stared at the phone and told her that I would call after some time as I was in a position to converse comfortably.
This was quite embarrassing. I had my friend to save considering how her father would never condone such behavior. Then I felt compelled to speak the truth regarding our whereabouts but this would be the beginning of a permanent hatred with my friend, just like she had informed me a couple of minutes before. I felt that I needed to have a talk with her so she would explain to me why she had really to mess up with our trip. I tried to talk to her but I was unable so I just went back to my sitting place. Suddenly the bus made an abrupt stop and finally we had reached our destination. I was so confused and I immediately thought of going back as I would never feel conceded having gone through all these. We alighted from the bus and stared at one another. At last managed to speak out and asked her why she had done all these to me. She explained that she had no other choice other than lying to me as she was certain that her parents would never allow her. I felt confused on what to do as we just stared at one another.