3A Situation Ethics: rejection of other forms of ethics and acceptance of agape as the basis of morality

Question 1

Which era was part of the reason for the popularity of situation ethics (but not the reason for its emergence)?

Answer 1

• The ‘liberal era’ of the 1960s

Question 2

When did Fletcher found situation ethics? What was his book called?

Answer 2

• 1966

* ‘Situation Ethics: The New Morality’

Question 3

Give three people who Fletcher was influenced by.

Answer 3

• Durant Drake
• Emil Brunner
• Paul Lehmann

Question 4

What was situation ethics designed to be?

Answer 4

• A C.tian ethic w/o deontological rules to maintain the integrity of C.ch

Question 5

Which three approaches did Fletcher reject?

Answer 5

• Legalism
• Antinomianism
• Conscience

Question 6

Explain how situation ethics is not based on Legalism.

Answer 6

• Legalism = belief that all human actions should be governed by rules (a rule for every situation)
• F believed that C.ty had become too legalistic (e.g. 613 commandments), which stops ppl thinking for themselves ∵ all answers to moral dilemmas are written down in the Holy Book, or reasoned through NL
• “choking web of laws”
• Times when legalistic rules are inappropriate to apply in the real world - i.e you cannot always apply moral laws in a casuistic way
- e.g. if a murderer asks ‘Where is your friend?’, it is more appropriate to lie
• Arthur Miller: legalism = “the immorality of morality”
• F believed that C.ty had slipped into “a whole apparatus of prefabricated rules” as “directives” rather than “guidelines of maxims to illuminate the situation”

Question 7

Explain how situation ethics is not based on antinomianism.

Answer 7

• Antinomianism = opposite to legalism: no rules at all; moral agent does not use an ethical system, instead makes decisions in an unguided/spontaneous way
- Developed out of Existentialism
- It rejects that moral agents need some form of moral guidance
• However, people would become amoral and society could slip into anarchy
• Ppl could rape, murder, etc., w/o realising it is wrong

Question 8

Explain how situation ethics is not based on the conscience.

Answer 8

• In a r. sense, the conscience = a G.-given intuitive ethical guide; F - “guidance by the HS”
• F believes that the conscience is a verb, not a noun
- It cannot be G working inside us (noun) as “conscience is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions”
• Morality ≠ something set in stone which dictates how the conscience is to react in a given situation
- The C.ch has made this mistake as they have devised moral principles in abstract, systematised them, and the applied them to actual cases (casuistry) to give directives (e.g. principle that abortion is wrong = derived from ‘do not kill’
• This approach to morality ≠ life-centred not person-oriented ∵ it only considers an abstract principle

Question 9

What does Fletcher call the middle ground between legalism and antinomianism?

Answer 9

• “principled relativism”

Question 10

Elaborate on Fletcher’s idea of “principled relativism”.

Answer 10

• It avoids the problems ass. w/ Legalism + antinomianism
• He saw laws as “illuminators” and not “directors”
• “Christian situation ethics has only one […] principle […] agape” ∵ love = fundamental feature of the B (best summarised in 1 Corinthians 13)
• Each sit. must be considered independently, using reason, guided by agape

Question 11

What did Fletcher acknowledge regarding his ‘new morality’?

Answer 11

• That is was not really new

* The roots of ‘new morality’ can be found in ‘classical’ C.ty

Question 12

Many accuse Fletcher of an antinomian approach - how did he respond?

Answer 12

• By saying that his approach was not grounded in Existentialism, but in a more virtuous “strategy of love”

Question 13

What are the two Bible passages that give the main focus of agape?

Answer 13

• Luke 10: 25-37 (Good Samaritan) - Jesus

* 1 Corinthians 13 - St. Paul

Question 14

Explain Luke 10:25-37 in relation to agape.

Answer 14

• “an expert in the law [asked Jesus] which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
• They would have expected J (as a Jew) to reply that all 613 = equally important (although not all rabbis believed this: Shammai emphasised worship of G and resting on Sabbath as most imp.)
• Jesus surprised him by saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart […] soul […] and […] mind” (agreeing w/ Shammai); and “Love your neighbour as yourself”
• When asked “Who is my neighbour?”, J replied that anyone is, even your enemy

Question 15

Explain 1 Corinthians 13 in relation to agape.

Answer 15

• St. Paul = considered by many theologians to be the second most imp. in the NT ∵ he was pivotal in the development of early C.ty
• “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”
• He clearly valued agape above all other attributes, same as SE
• Impact of Paul’s words in history of C.tian ethics can be seen from Aug. + Aqu. to Fletcher

Question 16

How is situation ethics relativist?

Answer 16

• No action is right/wrong in itself - no universal norms as it looks at each sit. independently
• “There are no rules - none at all”
• He recog. the grey area of agape as the one true binding factor
• However, agape = a practical tool of application that responds to the needs of the sit., not an absolute principle that directs each sit. uniformly

Question 17

How is situation ethics teleological?

Answer 17

• Right/wrong = judged by the end outcome, not the action

* The end should always assert the triumph of C.tian love

Question 18

How is situation ethics consequentialist?

Answer 18

• Judges morality based on the consequences of our outcomes
• Morally good actions = consquences create agape
• Morall bad actions = consequences create selfishness
• e.g. stealing a loaf of bread:
- Good: give bread to starving family
- Bad: eat the bread myself
∴ same action can be right/wrong depending on consequences: no universal norms