How to Solve a Moral Dilemma

It's not always easy to solve a moral dilemma. They are often complicated, with a lot at stake for several parties involved. It's important to take a slow and methodical approach to a moral dilemma. Getting outside advice is helpful also. Once you have analyzed the problem and identified the pros and cons of each possible solution, it's best to make a decision and stick to it.

Instructions

• 1

  Get advice from trusted sources. Talk to a friend, counselor, mentor, colleague, or someone you think may be able to help you analyze the problem. If it involves you personally, or someone you care about, it would also be wise to seek the perspective of someone who is uninvolved and can give you an objective opinion on the matter.

• 2

  Analyze all possible outcomes and consequences. There are often several different choices available when it comes to resolving a moral dilemma, each with their own pros and cons. It's important to slowly and methodically trace each one of these choices and their effects. Of course, it is impossible to predict these effects with complete and total accuracy, and there may be some unintended consequences, but you have to try to foresee them to the best of your ability if you want to make the best choice.

• 3

  Decide what's most important to you. Often several different factors are involved: your own well-being, the well-being of someone else; a job or career, or possibly the expectations of family and friends. In any case, it's important to think about which factors should be prioritized and which factors should be sacrificed. Resolving a moral dilemma typically involves choosing the lesser of two evils.

• 4

  Make a decision. Make sure that you are comfortable following through with it completely, whatever it is. Keep an eye out for consequences, intended and unintended, and address them as necessary as they arise.