One of the Ethical Dilemmas, Essay Example

This paper presents one of the ethical dilemmas that I have faced over the years and the process that I used to come up with the right choice. I once had two friends Tony and Michael.  Although I was a friend to both of them, the two did not know each other. After years of searching for the right partner, Michael succeeded in getting into a relationship with a lady named Alice. Alice had all the qualities that Michael was looking for in a lifelong partner. After a few months, he was convinced that he was comfortable enough to enter a long term relationship with Alice. Unknown to Michael, I observed him and Alice at a restaurant and realized that Alice was the wife of Tony. The revelation came as a shock to me as I contemplated whether to tell Michael that Alice is married. After a few days, I received a call from Tony. Tony suspected that his wife Alice was having an affair and asked me if I knew anything about the affair since we shared many friends and contacts. To calm Tony down, I told him I would investigate and alert him in case of anything. The ethical dilemma involved deciding whether to tell Michael that his fiancée, Alice, is married and telling Tony that his wife is indeed having an affair with Michael, who was also my friend.

One of the essential things that made the situation an ethical dilemma was the fact that any decision taken would hurt both Tony and  Michael. The other ethical dilemma was choosing to ignore and wait for the parties to find about the affairs themselves. If I broke the news to Michael regarding his fiancée, he would be disappointed because he had finally found someone he loved and was ready to spend the rest of his life with him. If I told Tony that his wife was having an affair with Michael, their marriage could end, thus also affecting him negatively. After analyzing the situation for several days, I decided to talk to the three people about the issue. The person of conflict in the case is Alice because she was cheating with Michael and Tony; her husband did not know. I first talked to Alice and made her understand that what she was doing was wrong then arrange a meeting that would include Tony and Michael after informing them of the issue. To avoid conflicts on the day of solving the case, it would have been necessary to first inform them prior to the meeting.

From the analysis of the ethical dilemma that I faced, it is evident that one is supposed to choose the option of breaking the news to the parties or even just remain quiet. I had to think critically about the situation and come up with a solution that would make both parties happy in their lives. I chose to inform both Tony and  Michael about Alice because I knew the issue affected all of them, and they needed to decide on the way of solving the case. Informing Tony of his wife’s affair would mean an inevitable end to years of dedication and family building. It would be important not to favor any side because sooner or later, the affair would have been publicized, and that would have destroyed all the relationships. It is ethically right for Tony to know about the affair so that it would ensure that even if the relationships would be broken, at least Alice would have a clear conscious with Tony.