Student handout 2.2: A tool to analyse and solve dilemmas

This is a toolbox, not a checklist. Not all questions fit every case, so you should choose which questions work best. Thinking about a few questions carefully is more helpful than ticking off the whole list.

1.    Collect information.

• Who is involved?
• What do they want? (What are their rights, needs, goals or interests?)
• What roles do people enact?
• What is the problem/dilemma?
• What does this case have to do with me?
• What does the law say? (Must I observe any legal obligations or rules?)
• What do we not know – what do we not understand?
• How big would the effort be to find the missing information?
• …

2.    Consider the consequences.

• What are the alternative choices?
• What effect would each of these choices have, and for whom? (Others directly involved, other people living today or in the future, here or somewhere else.)
• …

3.    Define your priorities.
What criteria do I consider most important to guide me in my decision, for example:

• To what extent do I understand the consequences of my decision?
• What moral or religious principles are important for me?
• What is legal – what is illegal?
• What can I expect others to accept – and vice versa? (Would I accept this decision if I were on the receiving end?)
• What works best? (Solving the problem, financial aspects.)
• What are the desired or undesired long-term effects or side effects?
• Is my decision irreversible (“point of no return”), or can I correct it later?
• …

4.    Make your decision.

• Must I opt for one goal and violate the other?
• Is there any chance of finding a compromise?
• Under the given conditions, what does my intuition tell me? With what decision can I identify most?
• …