Situational Ethics & Moral Dilemmas

Situational ethics are the opposite of what Marianne Jennings stated about ethics being part of a person's character. There are many in business who would argue that ethics depend on the situation. It is wrong to lie to your wife but it is acceptable to lie to someone when attempting to make a sale. Whether a person cheats on their spouse has nothing to do with whether they would cheat in a business deal. So, in a sense, this would be situational relativism.

Moral Dilemmas are also studied in ethics and we face these every day. A moral dilemma is when we are faced with two choices, both of which violate our ethical standards. For example, we are faced with hiring a relative who really needs a job and could be helped greatly by some work experience and development of job skills, and hiring the most qualified person. On the one hand, we believe it is right to help our relatives and we should treat our relatives better than other people. On the other hand, we believe it is only fair to hire the most qualified person. This particular moral dilemma is so common that we have anti-nepotism rules to prevent it. (Nepotism -favoritism shown toward one's relatives.)


In our view, one of the failings on the reservation is the lack of 'red tape'. Sounds crazy, we know. Nothing makes John Q. Public's blood boil more than hearing some heartless bureaucrat say, "Sorry, it's just our policy. There's nothing I can do about it."

Consider this crazy idea for a minute, though. Maybe those policies are why non-Indian agencies often function with fewer problems. They have anti-nepotism policies AND THEY STICK TO THESE POLICIES. Individual relativism does not happen as often. The policies are not ignored if you are from the right family. It is not that non-Indians are more ethical, it is that they have a system in place with an ethical basis and we often don't have any system. The rules change depending on who your relatives and friends are.

Click here to decide on a few moral dilemmas for yourself.