Situation Ethics Flashcards
Situation ethics (fletcher)
“Love is the only universal”
“Love is justice distributed”
“Drop the legalists love of law and accept only the law of love”
Bible quotes
“My command is this love each other as i have loved you”-John 15:12
“Love your neighbour as yourself”-Matthew 22:39
Strengths of SE
-grounded in Jesus’ key teachings (agape)
-Jesus put aside laws to do the most loving thing
-it provides individual autonomy (empowers the individuals to make their own decisions)
-it provides flexibility, making it relevant and applicable
-nml is outdated-se continues to be relevant and accommodates modern development
Weaknesses of SE
-gives too much responsibility to individuals(risk of ppl making mistakes)
-open to being misused
-impossible to apply across a society-only works for individuals
-it is impractical in a society we need clear cut rules
-only works for extreme cases not everyday life
-love can be used to justify anything(splitting up a family)
4 working principles
Pragmatism- seeking a practical solution that works
Relativism- there should be no fixed rules
Positivism-we must put faith before reasoning
Personalism-people should be the centre of concern people are to be loved not rules
Criticism quotes of SE
“If all men were saints, then situation ethics would be perfect”-william Barclay
“There are things which in no circumstance can be right”-William Barclay
