Many ethical and/or political problems do not seem to have easy solutions, and may leave us no way out that is entirely free of moral loss. Such situations are dilemmatic, or paradoxical, or tragic, and even if we think one of our options is preferable we may still have to get our hands ‘dirty’ and sacrifice what is of moral worth. In this summer school students will reflect on a number of such cases, and learn to analyse their structures. After a general introduction there will be discussions of dirty hands and politics, revolutionary action, the views of Camus and Sartre, exploitative beneficence, and of how to respond when others fail to do their fair bit in helping the poor.