Often in real life dilemmas the hard part is being honest with oneself rather than doing an accurate utility calculation.
The most important dilemma I encountered is probably my career choice which I got wrong by rationalizing my desire for luxuries and social status. The dilemma is made considerably more difficult by having responsibility to my family rather than only to myself. Essentially the same tradeoff (luxuries vs greater good) comes up in day to day choices as well. Often it is hard to tell whether you really need that extra indulgence to maintain motivation.
Another notable moral dilemma is regarding what is acceptable to eat. I gave up on eating mammals long ago and currently try to stick to a mostly vegan diet, however I’m not quite sure about the right solution. Here some of the difficulty truly arises from philosophical questions like what sort of entities have moral status and how to weight quantity vs. quality of animal lives.
Often in real life dilemmas the hard part is being honest with oneself rather than doing an accurate utility calculation.
The most important dilemma I encountered is probably my career choice which I got wrong by rationalizing my desire for luxuries and social status. The dilemma is made considerably more difficult by having responsibility to my family rather than only to myself. Essentially the same tradeoff (luxuries vs greater good) comes up in day to day choices as well. Often it is hard to tell whether you really need that extra indulgence to maintain motivation.
Another notable moral dilemma is regarding what is acceptable to eat. I gave up on eating mammals long ago and currently try to stick to a mostly vegan diet, however I’m not quite sure about the right solution. Here some of the difficulty truly arises from philosophical questions like what sort of entities have moral status and how to weight quantity vs. quality of animal lives.