Situation Ethics

Question 1

Legalism

Answer 1

A web woven by religious traditions which has rules for everything and has to constantly be updated to keep up with moral problems

Question 2

Legalism case study

Answer 2

In 2002 Saudis Arabian police would not let girls escape a burning building because they weren’t wearing the abaya. 15 died.

Question 3

Legalism Fletcher quote

Answer 3

‘Any web thus woven sooner or later chokes its weavers’

Question 4

Antinomianism

Answer 4

An approach that is ‘against law’ because every situation is unique. Gnostics claimed they ‘just know’ what is right and what is wrong.

Question 5

Situationism

Answer 5

The middle way between legalism and antinomianism. The only rule is agape love. All other rules and laws are only valid if they happen to serve love. The Church’s principles come from wisdom but in each situation the individual must work out whether following these or ignoring them would lead to the most loving result.

Question 6

Situationism Fletcher quote

Answer 6

‘Laws are only valid if they happen to serve love in any situation.

Question 7

Agape

Answer 7

Selfless, sacrificial love found in the Bible

Question 8

Consequentialism

Answer 8

The approach in ethics where the rightness or wrongness of an act is judged by its consequences

Question 9

Cultural relativism

Answer 9

The view that a person’s moral beliefs should be judged in the context of their own culture

Question 10

The conscience for Fletcher

Answer 10

It is a process - a verb. A creative process we engage in when trying to make the most loving decision. It is a form of guidance before the decision is made but clearly ‘what is right in one case may be wrong in another’

Question 11

4 types of love

Answer 11

Storage - familial, affection
Philia - friendship, loyalty
Eros - passionate, sensual
Agape - selfless, sacrificial, Biblical, of God

Question 12

Situation ethics 4 working principles

Answer 12

Pragmatism
Relativism
Positivism
Personalism

Question 13

St Louis cab driver quote

Answer 13

‘There are times when a man has to push his principles aside and do the right thing’

Question 14

Personalism quote

Answer 14

‘Situation ethics puts people at the centre of concern’

Question 15

Biblical support for SE

Answer 15

‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than this.’

‘Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone’ and to the woman ‘go and sin no more’

Question 16

Intrinsic good

Answer 16

Something that is ethically good in and of itself

Question 17

Ontic evil

Answer 17

An intrinsic/objective evil

An action that is wrong, no matter the circumstance

Question 18

Pragmatism

Answer 18

Something that works and is practical
If it doesn’t work, it has no point
If a rule isn’t practical it can be broken

Question 19

Pragmatism quote

Answer 19

‘A pragmatist turns his back upon fixed principles and pretended absolutes’

Question 20

Relativism

Answer 20

There are no fixed rules, all decisions are made relative to situations
Sometimes it will be right to break an ‘absolute command’
Laws are abstract but situations are concrete
Only love is constant and absolute

Question 21

Relativism

Answer 21

‘The situationist avoids words like ‘never’ and ‘always’ ‘

Question 22

Positivism

Answer 22

A value judgement needs to be made based on love

Ethical norms are an act of judgement and faith - because the Christian understands love in terms of God

Question 23

Positivism quote

Answer 23

‘Faith working through love is the essence and pith of Christian ethics’

Question 24

Personalism

Answer 24

People not things are the centre of concern
The question is who can be helped
Not - what does the law say?
Love people, not rules

Question 25

Personalism quote

Answer 25

‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath’

Question 26

Fletcher’s 6 propositions

Answer 26

Love only is always good
Love is the only norm
Love and justice are the same
Love is not liking
Love justifies its means
Love decides there and then

Question 27

Love only is always good quote

Answer 27

‘Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love, nothing else at all’

Question 28

Love is the only norm quote

Answer 28

‘The ruling norm of any Christian decision is love, nothing else’

Question 29

Love and justice quote

Answer 29

‘Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else’

Question 30

Love is not liking quote

Answer 30

‘Love wills the good of others, regardless of feelings’

Question 31

Love justifies its means quote

Answer 31

‘A loving end justifies the means’

Question 32

Love decides quote

Answer 32

‘Love’s decisions are made situationally not prescriptively’

Question 33

William Temple quote

Answer 33

‘Love is the predominant Christian Impulse’

Question 34

Tillich quote

Answer 34

‘Love is the ultimate law’

Question 35

SE Strengths

Answer 35

It’s flexible, practical, minimises evil
You can focus on the situation rather than the web of laws
God gives us free will to make moral decisions
It takes modern issues into account and adapts over time by itself unlike laws
It understands the subjective nature of situations
It’s teleological so humans and consequences are at the heart

Question 36

SE Weaknesses

Answer 36

It is too demanding, puts too much responsibility on the moral agent - it complicates the decision making rather than simplifying it
Some may abuse the ‘love justifies the means’ and do evil in the name of love
It may encourage antinomianism
Can we truly have an unselfish version of love? ie does agape actually exist?
How can we accurately predict the consequences of our actions?

Question 37

SE Weakness quote

Answer 37

‘If all men were saints then Situation Ethics would be perfect’ William Barclay
It gives us a ‘terrifying degree of freedom’