Responding to Moral Blackmail

Dialogue 55 (2):101-107 (2016)
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Abstract

Humans have binding moral obligations and the capacity to understand these obligations and to act upon them. Rarely do our moral obligations come to us under perfect circumstances. It seems necessary, then, that if the circumstances surrounding our moral decisions are imperfect, our obligations within an imperfect moral situation should be different from what they would be in a perfect scenario. This is true especially if the circumstances surrounding our moral obligation have been altered due to no fault of our own. Ethical theorists speak often of moral dilemmas. However, I contend that such a thing as a true moral dilemma does not exist. There is always a choice that can be called the right choice. Regarding moral dilemmas, if an outside agent were to create a moral blackmail situation where a moral agent is forced to choose between two morally wrong actions, a moral agent still can make a morally right choice.

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Aaron Paul Sullivan
University of Missouri, Columbia

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