1.2 Situation Ethics

Question 1

what are the four working principles of situationism?

Answer 1

1. pragmatism: situation ethics is grounded in experience not theory
2. positivism: we cannot look at the world and discover moral laws as natural law says, we rather decide our values by looking at the situation and starting with faith in God
3. personalism: people must always come first, legalism is too concerned with laws and rules
4. relativism: love is the absolute and everything else is relative to it, everything is relative and avoids words like ‘never’, ‘perfect’ of ‘absolute’

Question 2

what are Fletcher’s six propositions?

Answer 2

1. only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love: nothing else at all
2. the ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else
3. love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else
4. love wills thy neighbour good whether we like him or not
5. only the end justifies the means, nothing else
6. love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively

Question 3

what are Fletcher’s four examples of applying situation ethics

Answer 3

1. abortion after rape: in 1962 doctor didn’t allow an abortion after the mother was raped (it was only allowed when the mother’s life was in danger)
2. sacrificial suicide: i don’t know
3. sexual ethics - adultery: prisoner of war camp could only be released if pregnant so sleeps with guard
4. sexual ethics - prostitution: seduce an enemy to obtain information

Question 4

arguments that Fletcher’s situation ethics is a religious theory?

Answer 4

• when Jesus is asked to sum up the whole of the Jewish law he suggests that only two commandments are needed: ‘love God’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself’
• in the NT Jesus is often opposed to the legalism of the pharisees of the day
• Jesus argues that love is the primary evidence of the genuineness of religious faith ‘by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’, book of John

Question 5

arguments that situation ethics is not a religious theory?

Answer 5

• Fletcher’s reading of the words of Jesus are highly selective, he condemns divorce and adultery very clearly
• Jesus tells his disciples that if they love him they are to obey his commandments suggesting that there are commandments other than love
• the interpretation of agape as an unconditional wishing of the best for our neighbour is no explicitly christian, is there much difference between situationism and act utilitarianism?

Question 6

what is Fletcher’s view on conscience?

Answer 6

• argues conscience is not something we possess but is an active process, not a verb or a noun
• when we are making moral decisions we are using the function of conscience, it is not something we ‘carry around’ with us

Question 7

three advantages of situation ethics?

Answer 7

1. right that legalistic approaches bring inflexibility to situations, good it takes circumstances into account
2. tells us what to do when we have conflicting duties by giving us one principles to follow
3. agape love is s strong principle and saves us from personal bias

Question 8

what are three difficulties with situation ethics?

Answer 8

1. the theory has no clear and absolute boundaries meaning that all kinds of things could be accepted in hypothetical situations very much like act utilitarianism
2. the concept of agape is extremely vague and difficult to practically apply, what each of us sees as most loving is just a matter of personal opinion
3. the matter of time is tricky: when does a situation begin and end? we may solve the immediate situation but set off a chain of consequences that don’t lead to a loving outcome… how far into the future do we go

Question 9

Bonhoeffer

Answer 9

• he wansn’t necessarily a situation ethicist but his writings show a nuanced understanding of moral decisions in extreme situations
• his ideas on costly grace and responsible action seem to somewhat reflect situation ethics in sometimes acting against situation ethics to do the most loving thing

Question 10

Paul Tillich

Answer 10

• German-American Christian existentialist philosopher and theologian
• thought there needed to be a wider recognition for a nuanced understanding of morality so Christian truths and modern day moral concerns could meet
• his existential understanding of human situations can provide an underpinning for situation ethics

Question 11

which philosophers criticised situation ethics for being too relative

Answer 11

Hans King
- criticised situation ethics for its relativism and subjectivity
- it lacked a solid moral foundation and this could lead to moral chaos if individuals made decisions entirely dependent on the situation

Paul Ramsey
- American Christian ethicist
- without absolute principles there would be no basis to make judgments

Barth
- was very critical of the ethical relativism in situation ethics
- he instead emphasised divine command and the sovereignty of God’s will

Question 12

Niebuhr

Answer 12

• influential theologian and social ethicist
• said situation ethics was too optimistic about human nature
• it fails to account for the complexities of human decision making
• Fletcher’s approach was too simplistic and idealistic

Question 13

Pope Pius XII

Answer 13

• the Catholic church issued a statement in 1952 condemning situation ethics as incompatible with Catholic moral teaching
• the papal encyclical was called ‘humani generis’