Ethical Dilemma In Heinz's Dilemma By Lawrence Kohlberg

Heinz Dilemma
Several ethical dilemmas arise in Heinz’s Dilemma by Lawrence Kohlberg. Some of them that come to mind are, should Heinz steal the drug knowing that he may have consequences to pay, should the wife knowingly allow the husband to steal the drug and should the druggist only think of himself and the profit that he is going to make. It seems that every argument that one can make in each of these dilemmas makes perfect sense; however, no matter which dilemma one chooses there is always a way to refute the argument.
If we first look at the husband’s dilemma, one can argue that even though it is considered a crime to steal, it is also easily understood that there is no price that you can put on someone’s life. The husband does not seem to care that there are consequences that are involved with breaking into the druggist’s store and stealing the medication because it will save the life of his wife. He can only hope that if he is charged for the crimes that the judge or jury will be lenient since he only stole the medicine in order to save a life and did not commit an act of crime for selfish reasons. The husband needs to consider that there is a reason for laws and that if the laws are not obeyed, our society would be in total chaos.
From the husband’s perspective it is wrong to watch his wife die knowing that there is a cure, but it is also wrong to steal the needed medication to prevent the death of his wife. The husband is forced to commit one wrong to avoid committing another. One other perspective to think about is that the husband may feel like in order to be a “good” husband that he needs to do whatever he can to get the medicine. If we look at the situation from the wife’s perspective, she may feel that sh...

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... be forgiven for doing what I feel is the only option. I do not think that I would be able to live with myself if my loved one died just because I was afraid of what others would think of me or of losing my freedom. I feel like the druggist is being selfish in this situation and should think about all of the lives that he can save. Even though the druggist probably endured many expenses with the creation of the radium, hopefully he created it first to save lives and then maybe to make a good living from it. I think it is always good to put yourself in someone else’s situation before you make decisions. After all, I firmly believe that what comes around goes around. Stealing the medicine may cause jail time, loss of money for the doctor and possibly being judged by others that do not agree with your decision does not weigh as heavy as trying to save a life.