Situation Ethics Flashcards
What type of ethical theory is situations ethics
Altruistic and teleological ethical theory
Who proposed situation ethics
- American ethicist , Joseph fletcher
Who was fletcher ismoried by and what view did they hold,
- William temple
- held a personalist and love centred view to ethics
Quote temple on situational is
“ what acts are right depend on circumstances
What is agape
Greek word for love
- refers to Jesus’ sacrificial and generous love
What did fletcher argue about love
- fletcher argued that love should be at the centre of all of our moral decision making
“It is axonomical that love should be the predominant Christian impulse”
What is temples quote about agape
“ it is axonomical that love should be the predominant Christian thought”
What were the three approaches to a moral life
- legalism -> the idea that there are fixed and universal laws which should always be followed
- anitnomianism -> this idea is the rejection of the possibility of any rules, approach by Nietzsche and satre. No rules only our choices
- situationism (fletcher) -> believes in the absolute rule of love and believes it should be applied situationally
What are fletchers 4 working principles
- pragmatism
- relativism
- positivism
- personalism
In applying situations ethica what does fletcher provide us with
4 working principles
- pragmatism
- relativism
- positivism
- personalism
What is Pragmatism
- we should seek workable and practical solutions which work to achieve success not something abstract
What is an example of pragmatism
- the Bosnian war in 1947
- rape was used as a torture tactic toward women
- the church then allowed contraception during this period of time as a means of defence
- example of how pragmatic thinking allows for harm to be stopped
What is relativism
- the idea that moral decisions should be made relative to the needs of both the performer and situation
Give a quote which shows relativism
- do not absolute the relative but relativise the absolute - Joseph fletcher
What is positivism
- the idea of a belief in the god of love
- reminds us that love should be at the centre of all of our moral decision making
What is eorosmalism
- people are above any principle or rule
Quote for personalism
“ love is of people, by people, for people”
What does Anthony o hear argue against
- the idea of relativism, is it true no actions are intrinsically wrong regardless of circumstances
- AOH argues that “could it ever be right to throw babies into a bonfire?” -> this is simply an act of cruelty and could never be deemed as good
- goes against the idea that all actions can be right dependant on circumstances
What does fletcher argue against AOH
- that there are times that even adultery can be considered as right
- uses an example of a German lady who convinced a prison guard to impregnate her so she can be released and be with her family
- argues that even a adultery, a clear wrong act cns be right
What do evangelicals argue against relativism
- evangelicals also argue that there are firm rules and instructions which must always be followed
- we cannot break certain rules such as the 10 commandments
- SE is undermining the Christian faith as it is taking the idea of agape as law but treating everything else as negotiable
What are the 6 propositions
- “only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love, nothing else”
- the ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else”
- love and justice is the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else”
“ love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not” - “only the ends justify the means ; nothing else”
- “ loves decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively”
What impact do these 6 propositions have
These 6 propositions reinforce the idea that love is at the centre of all of our decision making
- shows how theory is proposition 5 -> only the ends justify the means nothing else
What is a probelm with prop 5 showing teleological
- a probelm with a teleological theory is that we can never be sure of outcomes, we are able to guess but there is no guarantee an action will lead to a specific outcomes, if I save someone from drowning and that person the goes onto kill some one -> was my act bad
- also suffers from the same problem as act utilitarianism, as we have to consider outcomes as the goodness of an action is dependant on outcomes, we would needand take time to determine outcomes and have necessary information
What is a strength of SE
- very straightforward, supposes agape (love) to be a boss principle which must always be followed
What is a opposing argument to the idea of love as a boss principle
Bishop Barclay: “if all men were angels, situation ethics would be the perfect ethics.” we are not all like Jesus, we are flawed creatures. we cannot be trusted to follow love honestly and universally.
What is another issue of SE
- fletcher uses extreme examples oh where situation ethics works such as the German women committing adultery
- this can lead us to question whether it can be applied in everyday ordinary moral dilemmas
What is a fatal issue of SE
- assumes that good is right
