WHAT CONSTITUTES A MORAL CONFLICT?
A moral conflict is one in which groups in conflict have “incommensurate moral orders... a moral order is the theory by which a group understands its experience and makes judgments about proper and improper actions” (Pearce and Littlejohn, 1997, p.
51). Moral conflicts are typically intractable. (See Chapter 24 for a full discussion of such conflicts.) Moral conflicts generally are interminable, morally attenuated, and rhetorically attenuated (Pearce and Littlejohn, 1997, p. 68). Interminable refers to having no endpoint or resolution. Morally attenuated refers to the tendency of those who engage in conflict to become just what they are fighting. Rhetorically attenuated refers to the tendency of groups in conflict to speak of the other group in negative terms and to have a limited understanding of the other group’s moral order. The vocabulary of the engagement reinforces polarities of right and wrong with each side unable to imagine the needs of the other side that underlie the positions they take.Moral differences do not always develop into moral conflicts. Some groups may choose to coexist and live their lives according to their own moral values without insisting that the other group conform to their values. In some instances, conflicts that do not start out as moral conflicts may become moralized over time. An example of this may be a resource-based conflict (as in land disputes) that becomes intractable with both sides digging their heels in and taking a stance of morally superior claims to the disputed land (as in the Arab-Israeli conflict).
A moral conflict, framed as a problem, differs from a moral dilemma in that a conflict can be defined, framed, and resolved. A moral dilemma, on the other hand, does not necessarily have a clear-cut resolution. Attempts to resolve a moral dilemma create a seesaw effect. First we lean more to one side and then, in an attempt to achieve balance, we pull back and inadvertently lean more to the other side. The dilemma can be defined and framed and needs to be managed rather than resolved.