J. Fletcher Flashcards
what did he write in 1966
situation ethics
what is meant be ‘man come of age’
humans having reached intellectual and rational maturity, are able to make moral decisions independent of rule prescribed by religious authorities
what did he identify 3 approaches to
morality
what were his 3 approaches to morality
- legalism
- Antinomianism
- situationism
What is meant by legalism
a rule based morality
what is meant by antinomianism
the opposite to legalism
- situation itself must be relied on
what is meant by situationism
a midway between legalism and antinomianism
the middle way always lay in the application of what
Agape love, the love that Jesus commanded
‘greater love has no man than this, ….
that a man lay down his life for his friends’ - John
ultimately Jesus demonstrated love through what
his sacrificial death on the cross for the sake of sinful humanity
what did were Fletcher’s 4 presuppositions of situation ethics
- Pragmatism
- Relativism
- Positivism
- Personalism
Define pragmatism
an action is judged according to whether it was a success
Define relativism
rejects such absolutes as ‘never’ and ‘always and ‘perfect’ and ‘complete’
Define positivism
Love is the most important criterion
Define personalism
people should be put first
love only is always
good
an action is good only in so far as it brings about what
Agape
in case of dispute what should decide what should bee done
love
How did Fletcher develop this theory
by drawing on a wide range of cases that could not be resolved applying fixed rules and principles
He also drew on situation he
- had experienced first hand
his theory seemed to be based on what
sufficient evidence of the need for moral decision making it be flexible
And for humans to be what
prepared to act in challenging ways if the interests of love were best served by doing so
