Situation Ethics

Question 1

The six propositions

Answer 1

1) love is the only thing that is intrinsically good
2) love is the ruling norm in ethical decision - making and replaces all laws
3) love and justice are the same thing
4) love wills the neighbours good regardless of weather the neighbour is liked or not
5) love is the goal or end of the act and that justifies and means to achieve that goal
6) love decides on each situation as it arises without a set of laws to guide it

Question 2

The four working principles

Answer 2

1) pragmatism: practice outcome
2) relativism: the rightness of each action depends upon the circumstances
3) positivism: you must act with further that the most loving cause of action will result in the best outcome
4) personalism: people not laws are at the centre of the decision

Question 3

Agape

Answer 3

Unconditional love

Question 4

Altruism

Answer 4

Any system that puts the needs of others before yourself

Question 5

Legalism

Answer 5

Following a set of laws

Question 6

Anti-nomianism

Answer 6

Following no laws. Everyone must decide for themselves what is right

Question 7

Situationism

Answer 7

You must only follow one rule ‘thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self’ and make decisions based on agape

Question 8

Conscience

Answer 8

Fletcher thinks that conscience is not a kind of inbuilt moral compass telling us what to do, but conscience in the process of reason is not something we have it is something we do.

Question 9

Is it helpful for making moral decisions (YES)

Answer 9

> it based on how Jesus decided, it is person centred
agape, hard to object to and is more compassionate
doesn’t reject laws but isn’t blinded to them
is flexible and so is able to deal with exceptional circumstances
enables decisions to be made in each situation. It is able to chose the lesser of two evils whereas absolutists struggle with conflicting duties

Question 10

Is this a helpful method of decision making (NO)

Answer 10

> it is vague, it is hard to decide what the most loving thing to do is
there are no moral boundaries, anything can be permitted if the situation is extreme enough
it is teleological, requires predictions about the outcomes
it is hard to know where situations begin and end eg taking someone’s life can lead to a chain of events
love is very subjective
fletchers examples can be seen as too extreme

Question 11

Strengths to situation ethics

Answer 11

It is more flexible than natural law

But natural law is prescriptive and many people are hesitant to break the rules

Question 12

Weaknesses to situation ethics

Answer 12

> how do we define a ‘situation’, where do we draw the line (what is loving for one is not the same for another)
proportionalism is a better compromise, there are no clear ‘warning labels’
we can’t predict consequences of our actions
we need basic rules and measures by which to abide, there is no need for lengthy calculations before every decision

Question 13

Fletcher examples

Answer 13

> selfless adultery (Mrs Bergmeier)
acceptable abortion (girl with schizophrenia was raped, illegal abortion)
Truman’s dilemma (Nagasaki and Hiroshima)
patriotic prostitution (female agent sleeps with man for information)
sacrificial suicide and euthanasia (to expensive to live)

Question 14

Fletcher quote

Answer 14

‘the morality of an action depends upon the situation’

Question 15

Rudolf Bultmann quote

Answer 15

‘Jesus didn’t teach a system of ethics , only “love thy neighbour”

Question 15

Bishop John Robinson quote

Answer 15

Bishop John Robinson -> ‘assertions about God are in the last analysis assertions about love’ (love was at the core of what it meant to be Christian rather than inflexible absolute moral rules)

Question 16

Bernard Hoose quote

Answer 16

Bernard Hoose -> ‘it is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason to justify it’ (in proportion to suffering)

Question 17

Mark 12 quote

Answer 17

‘Love your neighbour as yourself’

Question 18

Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:13 quote

Answer 18

‘Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love’

Question 19

Pope Pius XII quote criticising situation ethics

Answer 19

‘It is an individual and subjective appeal to the concrete circumstances of actions to justify decisions in opposition to the Natural Law or God’s revealed will’