FAQ: Moral deliberation

Moral deliberation is a systematic method of arriving at a morally sound decision on a difficult issue. The key question is: How do we adequately take into account the rights, interests and desires of all parties concerned? Moral deliberation always starts with a concrete dilemma and two possible courses of action. Participants in a moral deliberation go through a step-by-step plan, guided by a qualified moderator, to assess which course of action is the morally right. Participants also always consider measures to limit the damage resulting from not choosing the alternative course of action. The underlying principle of moral deliberation is that participants do not rely on their initial judgement but defer judgement until all arguments have been identified.

During a moral deliberation, participants go through a step-by-step plan, guided by a trained moderator. The moral deliberation starts with the formulation of the issue and the two courses of action. All participants are also asked for their initial, intuitive judgements. Next, a series of steps is used to identify who is affected by the decision and what the arguments for the two courses of action are. Each argument is weighted: for example, an argument relating to the fundamental rights of a particular group will weigh heavier than a practical argument in terms of time or money. The two courses of action are weighed against each other.

Usually there is no ‘perfect’ course of action and both options will result in a certain degree of damage (otherwise there would be no dilemma). Even when reaching a decision that is morally right, participants are always asked consider measures to limit the damage resulting from not choosing the alternative course of action.

Moral deliberation is applied in many public institutions: for example, municipalities, politics and healthcare institutions. The method is not yet widely used in universities.

TU Delft first applied moral deliberation to the issue of knowledge security. In 2022, a committee was established in the EEMCS faculty, which deliberated on six cases within this theme. The report can be read here (in Dutch; an English translation will be published soon). The participants found that moral deliberation provided space as well as a shared ‘language’, both of which are needed in order to talk about difficult issues in a constructive manner. It led to well-substantiated and concrete moral judgements and provided insight into the key dilemmas and basic principles that are important when considering knowledge security.

The Executive Board followed up on the EEMCS pilot in two ways. First, a university-wide committee was created on the theme of knowledge security. Second, the Executive Board expressed its desire to use moral deliberation on other themes and in all layers of the organisation. Part of this is the university-wide committee that will conduct moral deliberation on collaboration with the fossil fuel industry.

Moral deliberation can concern all sorts of moral issues that people encounter at work or during their studies. Everyone encounters such issues, even though they may not always recognise them right away. Moral deliberation always concerns real (non-fictional) cases. Hypothetical or fictional cases are not used because the specific context and details of a real case are important in construction real arguments. This leads to real rather than hypothetical outcomes. It is also possible to deal with past cases in order to retrospectively reflect on and learn from decisions made at the time.

Within the university, cases may concern (but are not limited to!) questions such as:

• As a researcher, do I accept company A’s proposal to collaborate on study B?
• As an employee, do I say something about a colleague scheduling many private appointments during working hours?
• As dean of faculty X, will I continue our exchange with university Y?
• Should we opt for a cheaper or a more sustainable caterer on campus?
• As a student, do I let ChatGPT write the least interesting part of my assignment?
• As a PhD candidate, do I mention the fact that I feel that my supervisor is giving me preferential treatment?
• As a researcher, do I appear on talk show Z to talk about a politically charged topic?
• As an executive, how do I respond to a critical media report about the university?

A moral deliberation is always about a specific case. The first step is to formulate two possible courses of action, A and B. The outcome of the deliberation is a substantiated choice for option A or B, indicating that you choose A or B because ..., but also despite .... In other words: you make a decision that you can substantiate as being morally right, while also acknowledging the potential damage associated with that choice and considering ways to limit it.

The outcome of a moral deliberation not only provides an answer to the problem, but also contributes to insight into the key dilemmas and basic principles that are important in an organisation. It is therefore important that all moral deliberations are well documented. We refer to these insights as moresprudence (moral knowledge).

The concept of ‘jurisprudence’ comes from the legal system. It refers to the collection of all court rulings that judges can use as references to make judgements on new, similar cases. Moresprudence is a similar collection, but with moral rather than legal judgements. By properly documenting each moral deliberation within TU Delft, we can eventually identify patterns. This provides insight into matters such as the principles that are most important within TU Delft, and frequently recurring dilemmas.

Thus, the moral judgements that result from the deliberations serve as the building blocks for moresprudence. By building moresprudence, over time it becomes easier to make decisions on difficult issues. You can then refer to similar issues on which a well-considered decision has been made. At the same time, like the legal system, moresprudence is constantly developing: new decisions lead to new insights.

Moral deliberation is an investigative method, and not a discussion or a debate. The outcome does not depend on who talks the loudest or who is able to formulate the most convincing arguments, or who has the most authority. Instead, participants engage in a guided and careful exploration of an issue in order to determine together which course of action adequately addresses the rights, interests and wishes of all parties concerned. The moderator ensures that all participants can present arguments and ask questions. This process most often results in a unanimous agreement about which course of action is morally right. On occasion the participants are still divided. That can be a signal that an argument might have been missed, or improperly weighed, and then the steps are revisited to check whether this can be corrected.

Of course, moral deliberation does not provide 100% guarantee that you are making the right choice. It is always based on the information available at the time, but it is also possible for new information to surface later on. If you properly document a moral deliberation, you can look back at why you made a particular choice and you can repeat the deliberation with the new information. This way you can see whether you would have made a different choice based on the new information, or whether you stand by your earlier decision. Moral deliberation therefore contributes to an organisation’s self-learning capacity.

Before the deliberation, all participants in a moral deliberation must participate in training in which they acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. During that training, they learn what place moral deliberation has in an ethical organisation, explore the measure of what is morally right, reflect on moral issues they themselves encounter in real life, and practise using the method.

Participating in a moral deliberation requires background knowledge and a specific skill. It requires participants to follow the step-by-step plan and defer judgement until the step-by-step plan has been completed. This is not self-evident for most people: we tend to defend our own point of view, rather than examine it. During training, participants learn why discipline and an open attitude are necessary for a successful moral deliberation and have a chance to practise it.

At this time, we mainly organise training for committees conducting a series of moral deliberations on a specific theme (currently: knowledge security and collaboration with the fossil fuel industry). If you are on one of these committees, you will receive training.

We would like to eventually offer the training to all TU Delft staff, but unfortunately we are not able to do so yet. If you are already interested in attending a training session with your department and/or with colleagues from other departments, or in using moral deliberation in your teaching, please feel free to contact integrity@tudelft.nl. We would be happy to exchange ideas with you.

The moral deliberation on collaboration with the fossil fuel industry consists of a series of six deliberations conducted by a ‘moral deliberation chamber: a standing group of twelve members (academic staff, support staff and students) carefully composed to represent the diversity of the TU Delft community as well as possible.

Each of the six deliberations deals with one case within the theme ‘collaboration between TU Delft and the fossil fuel industry’. The cases are provided by students or staff who encountered the cases themselves at work or during their studies and experienced moral doubt. Preferably, the ‘case owner’ (the person who brings the case forward) also participates in the deliberation session in which their case is examined.

The outcomes of the deliberations, along with the outcomes of two other initiatives on the theme – Participatory Value Evaluation and a series of open dialogues – are presented to the Executive Board and serve as input to develop a vision on the topic.

Anyone in the TU Delft community can apply to join the committee that conducts moral deliberations on collaboration with the fossil fuel industry. By doing so, you sign up for the entire process. A representative group of twelve members will be selected from all the applications. It is not possible to take part in only one deliberation. Participation in a moral deliberation is a skill that requires a lot of practice in addition to basic training. The fact that the committee members get to know each other, the method, and the topic better and better as they go along is a great advantage. The quality of the deliberations and outcomes will be higher as a result.

Participants must be willing to make available six half-days for deliberation in the period from December 2023 to February 2024, as well as a whole day of training in December during which they will learn how to conduct a moral deliberation. You must also respect the underlying principles of a moral deliberation: a deliberation is not a debate but an investigation, and all participants must be prepared to scrutinise their ideas on the subject. It is not necessary to have strong beliefs on the subject already; curiosity about the theme is enough.

PhD students receive Graduate School credits in exchange for their participation. Bachelor and master students will be compensated, if needed, with extra time at the end of their studies (through a partial waiver of tuition fees).

The moral deliberation concerns real cases that members of the TU Delft community have encountered during their studies or at work, which are related to the collaboration between TU Delft and the fossil fuel industry, and about which they experienced moral doubt. Examples of such cases are:

• Fossil fuel company X has made me an offer to collaborate on study A, which may contribute to the extraction of fossil resources. Do I accept the offer?
• Fossil fuel company X has made me an offer to collaborate on study B, which may contribute to the energy transition. Do I accept the offer?
• Fossil fuel company X has made me an offer to collaborate on study C, which has nothing to do with energy. Do I accept the offer?
• I am organising a career event for fellow students. Do I invite company Y?
• Fossil fuel company Z has invited me to give a lecture on my research. Do I accept the invitation?

Certainly. If you experience moral doubt about a situation that you yourself have encountered in your studies or at work, which is related to the collaboration between TU Delft and the fossil fuel industry, you can present that situation as a case. If your case is chosen, you yourself will also participate in the moral deliberation in which your case is examined.

In principle, cases are collected through the deans. Therefore, you can submit your case to your research group leader, departmental director or dean. If you are not affiliated with any faculty and/or do not feel comfortable sharing your case with your supervisor, you can submit your case to samenwerkingfossiel@tudelft.nl

The moral deliberation consists of six sessions. Each session takes half a day and allows for extensive reflection on one case. The sessions will take place from December 2023 to February 2024, and the report is expected in March 2024. The exact schedule will be made in consultation with the members of the moral deliberation chamber.

A moral deliberation is not about a ‘big question’ (should TU Delft continue to collaborate with the fossil fuel industry?), but concerns concrete cases of collaboration. Moral deliberation has been designed in such a way because talking about a big question often remains abstract and vague and rarely provides an answer to specific concerns. By starting small, with specific situations that raise moral doubts, you can provide concrete answers that fit with the details of the case. By finding answers to the questions in those cases, we will ultimately build an answer to the big question.

The outcome of a moral deliberation is a recommendation to act in a certain way in the given situation. That recommendation is therefore addressed to the case owner (who submitted the case). This may be, for example, a researcher, a support staff member, a student or a dean.

A single report will be written on the outcomes of all the sessions by Governance & Integrity, the agency that also facilitates the deliberations. The report will reflect on the outcomes of the cases and the resulting insight into the overarching issue, namely the collaboration between TU Delft and the fossil fuel industry. This report will be presented to the Executive Board along with the reports on two other initiatives on this topic, Participatory Value Evaluation and the series of open dialogues.

Yes, currently a moral deliberation is also being conducted on the theme of knowledge security. A successful pilot took place in the EEMCS faculty in 2022, and has been followed up with a university-wide moral deliberation on knowledge security. Moral deliberations may also be conducted on other themes in the future.