A moral problem where someone in a position of responsibility must do something morally wrong to prevent greater harm or achieve important good. It suggests that moral action sometimes requires moral wrongdoing.
The phrase comes from Sartre's play 'Dirty Hands' (1948), but the concept was developed philosophically by Michael Walzer and others in political philosophy. It draws on the idea that governance sometimes requires morally compromising actions.
Think of a political leader who must lie to prevent panic during a crisis, or authorize torture to stop a terrorist attack — they seem both morally required and morally forbidden to act! This paradox suggests that positions of power create moral situations where 'doing the right thing' involves doing wrong.
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