situation ethics

Question 1

situation ethics was founded in what year, where, by who

Answer 1

1960s USA by Joseph Fletcher

Question 2

fletcher divides moral thinking into three basic kinds

Answer 2

legalistic, antinomian, and situational ethics

Question 3

legalistic ethics

Answer 3

legalistic ethics has a set of predefined rules which direct you how to behave.

Question 4

legalism - two traditional forms of christian rule based morality

Answer 4

1. natural law, which is reason-based - through obedience to rules discoverable by reason and backed up by special revelation in the Bible and Church, individuals fulfil God’s purpose for human lives
   - causistry (eg the principle of double effect) was developed to deal with hard, exceptional cases
2. divine command theory, which is Bible-based - people fulfil gods purpose through obedience to the ten commandments and teachings of Jesus and Paul.

Question 5

why does fletcher reject legalism

Answer 5

because it is often too inflexible/rigid

Question 6

antinomian ethics

Answer 6

this does not follow any low, rule or principle, or any system of ethics at all. each attempt at moral decision making is totally unique, following no patterns or system

Question 7

fletchers quote on antinomian ethics

Answer 7

‘they follow no forecastable course from one situation to another. they are, exactly, anarchic - i.e. without a rule’

Question 8

why did fletcher reject antinomianism

Answer 8

as it is random and unprincipled decision making. He claimed that Christian antinomians ignored Jesus’ law of love.

Question 9

situational ethics

Answer 9

fletcher viewed this as the mid way between legalism and antinomianism. it is based on agape
- it is based on reason, but rejects any in-built law
- accepts the bible as the source of the only absolute principle (jesus command: love your neighbour as yourself) but rejects all over supposedly revealed biblical laws

Question 10

fletchers conscience (key feature of Fletchers situationism)

Answer 10

conscience plays a role in the process of making moral decisions

Question 11

conscience as a verb not a noun

Answer 11

conscience is a word to describe the weighing up of possible action before it is taken, moral deliberation, rather than a faculty within a human being
fletcher rejected all traditional approaches to conscience such as. intuition. he considered it is something we do, not something we have. it is a form of guidance before the decision is made.

Question 12

inspirations of situation ethics in the Bible

Answer 12

in the New Testament, Jesus makes love central “you shall love your God with all your heart” “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”

Question 13

how does fletcher apply the christian origins of agape love in his moral system

Answer 13

looks to the NT actions of Jesus who set aside laws or broke rules for the good of people and love. for fletcher, situation ethics is a christian ethic that should focus on a flexible message of forgiving grace founded on love rather than rigid rules, laws and commandments (even though many churches disagree)

Question 14

(2 quotes) fletcher concluded that love “” is “”

Answer 14

“regardless of context” is “always good and right in every situation. love is the only universal”

Question 15

rudolf bultmann argued

Answer 15

argued against the idea that jesus sought to establish some new ethical ideology. Jesus had no other ethics than ‘love thy neighbour’

Question 16

karl barth argued

Answer 16

argued that ‘Gods commanding’ is not a rule but applied individually to each specific example

Question 17

agape

Answer 17

unconditional love
a greek word meaning love used in the New Testament and adopted by Fletcher to refer to selfless love. the word was adopted by christians to refer to jesus’ sacrificial and generous love for others
- refers to both the love god shows mankind (through jesus) and the love that christians are required to share with each other

Question 18

fletcher and jesus

Answer 18

fletcher looked at the examples of jesus and argues that he was not legalistic, as he broke social rules in order to show love to other. therefore fletcher argued that those who are truly loving know to break rules if it will bring around a loving consequence

Question 19

example of jesus not being legalistic, breaking rules to show love

Answer 19

jesus healed a man on the Sabbath - broke the rule that sabbath is for rest because he recognised showing love was more important than the rule.
this underscores fletchers theory : act in a way that shows love to others.

Question 20

is agape universal

Answer 20

agape is universal as it can still be applied to non religious people so it does not matter if agape is religious or non religious concept

Question 21

when are fletchers six propositions applied

Answer 21

these are fundamental principles that should be applied/kept in mind when seeking a decision

Question 22

fletchers first proposition

Answer 22

‘love only is always good’

Question 23

‘love only is always good’ explained

Answer 23

actions aren’t intrinsically good or evil. they are extrinsically good or evil, depending on their circumstance and consequence.
only love is good in and of itself. love is the only intrinsically good thing.

Question 24

fletchers second proposition

Answer 24

‘love is the only norm’

Question 25

‘love is the only norm’ explained

Answer 25

if love requires it, any and every law may be broken, even the ten commandments. love is deciding factor in christian decisions. for example his decision to work on the sabbath day. even the ten commandments are not absolute, jesus broke it when love demanded it. love replaces law.

Question 26

fletchers third proposition

Answer 26

‘love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed’

Question 27

‘love and justice are the same’ explained

Answer 27

love and justice cannot be separated ‘Justice is christian love using its head’
‘justice is love distributed; nothing else’
justice is love at work in the whole community

Question 28

fletchers fourth proposition

Answer 28

‘love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not’

Question 29

‘love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not’ explained

Answer 29

the love fletcher is concerned about is not a matter of feeling, but of attitude. The desire for the good of the other person. your neighbour is anybody and agape love goes out to everyone; not just those we like, but those we dont like.

Question 30

fletchers fifth proposition

Answer 30

‘love justifies its mean’

Question 31

‘the end justifies the mean’ explained

Answer 31

for fletcher, the end must be the most loving result. love is the goal or end of the act and that justifies any means to achieve that goal. can break

Question 32

four factors to consider when making moral decisions

Answer 32

the desired end, the means available, the motive for acting, and the forseeable consequences

Question 33

fletchers sixth proposition

Answer 33

‘love’s decisions are made situationally not prescriptively’

Question 34

‘love’s decisions are made situationally and not prescriptively’ explained

Answer 34

love decides on each situation as it arises, without a set of laws to guide it. fletcher suggested Jesus reacted against the rule-based approach he saw to life around him. whether something is right or wrong depends on the situation.

Question 35

fletchers views on christian moral rules surrounding sex

Answer 35

fletcher feels that Christian legalism pursues sex obsessively with prescribed moral rules for ‘homosexuality, masturbation, fornication, or premarital intercourse… whether any form of sex is good or evil depends on whether love is fully served’

Question 36

fletcher on euthanasia

Answer 36

fletcher strongly supported euthanasia, in breach of traditional Christian rules, believing it could be a loving and compassionate thing to do. in all moral problems, if an action will bring about an end that serves love most, then it is right

Question 37

what are the four working principles used for

Answer 37

four assumptions that underlie the central part of fletchers theory. they are involved in the application of principle agape to moral situations

Question 38

name the four working principles

Answer 38

pragmatism, relativism, positivism, personalism

Question 39

pragmatism

Answer 39

pragmatism is based on experience rather than theory. being practical rather than belief in systems. fletcher doubts strict philosophical systems or ideologies are much help in ethics.

Question 40

relativism

Answer 40

the rejection of absolute moral standards. based on making the absolute laws of christian ethics relative. meaning that absolutes like ‘do not kill’ become relative to love

there are no fixed rules that must always be obeyed, but is neither a free for all. there are different degrees of relativism from absolute relativism, in which all decisions are random, to situationist approach where all decisions must be relative to christian love. relativism is based on making the absolute laws of christian ethics relative. situation ethics ‘relativises the absolute, it does not absolutize the relative’

Question 41

positivism

Answer 41

it begins with the belief in the reality and importance of love. stems from christians freely choosing faith that god is love.

religious knowledge or belief can only be approached in one of two ways. with natural positivism reason deduces faith from human experience or natural phenomena. nature provides the evidence and reason grasps hold of it.

Question 42

personalism

Answer 42

the legalist puts laws first. the situationist puts people first. ‘ethics deals with human relations. situation ethics puts people at