situation ethics Flashcards
situation ethics was founded in what year, where, by who
1960s USA by Joseph Fletcher
fletcher divides moral thinking into three basic kinds
legalistic, antinomian, and situational ethics
legalistic ethics
legalistic ethics has a set of predefined rules which direct you how to behave.
legalism - two traditional forms of christian rule based morality
- 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 - divine command theory, which is Bible-based - people fulfil gods purpose through obedience to the ten commandments and teachings of Jesus and Paul.
why does fletcher reject legalism
because it is often too inflexible/rigid
antinomian ethics
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
fletchers quote on antinomian ethics
‘they follow no forecastable course from one situation to another. they are, exactly, anarchic - i.e. without a rule’
why did fletcher reject antinomianism
as it is random and unprincipled decision making. He claimed that Christian antinomians ignored Jesus’ law of love.
situational ethics
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
fletchers conscience (key feature of Fletchers situationism)
conscience plays a role in the process of making moral decisions
conscience as a verb not a noun
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.
inspirations of situation ethics in the Bible
in the New Testament, Jesus makes love central “you shall love your God with all your heart” “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”
how does fletcher apply the christian origins of agape love in his moral system
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)
(2 quotes) fletcher concluded that love “” is “”
“regardless of context” is “always good and right in every situation. love is the only universal”
rudolf bultmann argued
argued against the idea that jesus sought to establish some new ethical ideology. Jesus had no other ethics than ‘love thy neighbour’
karl barth argued
argued that ‘Gods commanding’ is not a rule but applied individually to each specific example
agape
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
fletcher and jesus
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
example of jesus not being legalistic, breaking rules to show love
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.
is agape universal
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
when are fletchers six propositions applied
these are fundamental principles that should be applied/kept in mind when seeking a decision
fletchers first proposition
‘love only is always good’
‘love only is always good’ explained
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.
fletchers second proposition
‘love is the only norm’
‘love is the only norm’ explained
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.
fletchers third proposition
‘love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed’
‘love and justice are the same’ explained
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
fletchers fourth proposition
‘love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not’
‘love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not’ explained
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.
fletchers fifth proposition
‘love justifies its mean’
‘the end justifies the mean’ explained
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
four factors to consider when making moral decisions
the desired end, the means available, the motive for acting, and the forseeable consequences
fletchers sixth proposition
‘love’s decisions are made situationally not prescriptively’
‘love’s decisions are made situationally and not prescriptively’ explained
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.
fletchers views on christian moral rules surrounding sex
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’
fletcher on euthanasia
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
what are the four working principles used for
four assumptions that underlie the central part of fletchers theory. they are involved in the application of principle agape to moral situations
name the four working principles
pragmatism, relativism, positivism, personalism
pragmatism
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.
relativism
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’
positivism
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.
personalism
the legalist puts laws first. the situationist puts people first. ‘ethics deals with human relations. situation ethics puts people at
