An ethical dilemma is when an individual is in a situation where it is hard to decide the right choice, whether it is because the right decision is not clear, or the choice has some negative consequences (Pollock, 2015, p.15). I have faced a couple of ethical dilemmas in my life. For this essay I will talk about my most recent ethical dilemma and my emotional and intellectual responses along with influential factors that affected my decision.
Background
I lived in Red Deer, AB and was raised by a single mother until I was 13 years old. My mother had met my now step-father and we both moved to Medicine Hat in 2009/ 2010. My biological father has never been in or a part of my life, nor have I ever met him. Before …show more content…
My first thought was that this is not something to talk about over Facebook. Secondly, I questioned to not say anything because this does not only affect me but her family as well. I rationalized this thought by thinking if the situation was reversed I would want to know. Especially because I could not go to class every day with that kind of information kept as a secret. Thirdly, what if she and her family do not believe me? Fourthly, I need to call my mother, and see what she thinks I should do and ask her opinion on the situation. Lastly, is this something I want to go through at this point in my …show more content…
I identified the facts that I possibly have a cousin in my class, I have a choice of telling her or not, and that this can affect me, her and her family for the rest of our lives. I took into consideration the moral dilemmas Joshlyn may encounter, like the fact she also must decide on whether to pass the information on to her family that she has a cousin in her class or to not. I also took into consideration the effect this has on her and her life. Two ethical systems that apply to my response and actions are ethics of care and egoism. Ethics of care applies because the information that I am her cousin could possibly form and preserve a relationship between the two of us. By telling her it also gives me the opportunity to build a relationship not only with her, but with the rest of the family I have never had never met. Another ethical system that applies to my decision-making process is egoism. I informed her out of my personal need and happiness to share this information, but it was done on behalf of my moral interests. I also wanted to tell her because I had a self-interest of knowing my medical background.
Conclusion
In conclusion I do not think I would change the decision I made in my ethical dilemma on whether to tell Joshlyn or not that we are related to each other. By using the five-step