Forms of Moral and Immoral Thought

Much of the time moral thought is covered by mundane decisionmaking. Sometimes, when one thinks of moral issues, they reach an obstacle to further thought — or a moral dilemma. Moral dilemmas seem to come in four forms. These four forms are as follows:

The Brick Wall: Where one follows a line of reasoning, and wishes to continue, but there seems to be no logical next step following the end of a sequence of steps.

An example would be the moral idea that each step for world peace makes a difference, but no logical steps are available to take at the moment.

The Difficult Decision: Where two or more separate logical lines of reasoning about the same subject (or moral choice) seem to lead to opposing but equally valid conclusions with reference to their respective lines of reasoning.

An example would be the question: should I invest in the markets? Either yes because: by investing in morally sound ventures encourages moral thought, and it is analogous to giving a loan to someone--if someone just gives free money, that could engender the idea that one does not have to be responsible to society. Or, no because: the very idea of investment is based on greed--requiring that charity must be reciprocated is a greedy approach. By investing one only creates the cause for bad decisions based on greed.

The Fine Line: Where a set of moral choices with a high degree of similarity and exceedingly subtle distinctions lead to greatly different and opposed conclusions.

An example would be the role of advertising. Is it okay to make people want something? If one has the intention of creating an unhealthy system of dependence on the product in question, it could be bad. However, if one simply capitalizes on desires that are already there, it is just a natural outcome of people's desires and morally neutral.

The Empirical Scale: Where a moral choice changes based on the number of empirical observations that fall into different categories.

An example would be creating a large magazine for a certain medical disorder. If enough people have the disorder, this decision is justified. However, if only one or two people in the world have it, it's probably better for patients to rely on news from their doctors alone.

Thought that overturns moral decisionmaking generally comes in three forms. The three forms are as follows:

Moral Rationalization: Where one searches for and comes up with a moral line of reasoning specifically to justify an immoral act.

Moral Hesitation: Where one feels an urge to do a moral act, and suppresses it. Usually this is followed by Moral Rationalization.

Moral Overwhelming: Where a strong emotion such as anger or guilt overwhelms one's decisionmaking, causing one to make a bad decision.

As with any dilemma or problem, moral problems are solved with patience and methodological thought.