situation ethics

Question 1

What sort of theory is situation ethics and how

Answer 1

RELATIVIST - no universal moral right or wrongs - depends on circumstances

TELEOLOGICAL - goals of actions should form moral judgement and not action - “There are no rules, none at all”

CONSEQUENTALIST - judges if right or wrong based on if consequences are good or not

Question 2

who was Joeseph Fletcher and when / how did he introduce his theory

Answer 2

an anglican priest and american professor

released the book ‘situation ethics: the new morality’ in 1966

Question 3

why did joeseph fletcher create situation ethics

Answer 3

-he was worried about the deontological nature of Christian ethics like in natural law
- and how christians should be making moral decisions
- especially in the changing world of the 60s
- and was worried christianity was unable to respond properly to new medical technology and changes in social order

Question 3

who was Joseph Fletcher influenced by and why

Answer 3

BONHOEFFER - christian pacifist who plotted against the life of hitler in WW2”

RUDOLF BULTMANN - claimed jesus had no ethical theory other than ‘love thy neighbour’

Question 4

What is legalism, who uses it and why does Fletcher reject it

Answer 4

= all moral actions should be governed by rules

used by christians and jews in history

rejects because it’s like “choking web of laws” and stops people from thinking for themselves about ethical issues

some rules are not defensible - Leviticus “homosexual sex should carry a death sentence”

Question 5

what is antinomianism, who created it + why and why does Fletcher reject it

Answer 5

= ‘against law’ - should be no ethical rules

created by existentialist philosophers satre and nietzsche because rules prevent people reaching their full potential

rejected because with no rules “one enters into the decision making situation armed with no principles”

without ethical rules people would struggle to know difference between right and wrong

Question 6

what is conscience and why does Fletcher reject it as a form of moral decision making

Answer 6

= in religious sense it is God ethically guiding us through the holy spirit in our minds

rejects because conscience is not noun (thing - God working inside us), but verb ( brains mechanical process of working out moral decisions)

“there is no conscience; ‘conscience’ is merely s word for our attempts to make decisions”

Question 7

Why did Fletc her choose situation ethics instead of the other theories

Answer 7

it is like the middle ground between two extremes as it avoids too many restricting rules and no guidance at all by using the one guiding principle of love / agape

Question 8

what is the one guiding (boss) principle of situation ethics and why

Answer 8

agape
Fletcher studied the whole Bible and conclude the fundamental feature of the book was the law and love and he said if he had to sum the whole book into one word it would be love.

Question 9

what does agape mean and what are the 3 parts to it

Answer 9

selfless love - an attitude of mind rather than an emotional bond which involves desiring the good of others rather than your own

1. love is directed outwards
2. love is given unconditionally
3. love is given constantly

Question 10

how do you know if something is a good or bad action in situation ethics

Answer 10

good action = creates / expresses selfless love

bad action = consequences of our actions create or express selfishness

Question 11

what are the four working principles

Answer 11

pragmatism

relativism

positivism

personalism

Question 12

what is pragmatism

Answer 12

a straight forward, practical approach that will actually work
bad actions can only be justified if loving consequence actually happens

Question 13

what is relativism

Answer 13

no definite right or wrong - it depends

but everything should be relativist to love

Question 14

what is positivism

Answer 14

based on faith rather than reason

can’t prove that agape is the right way, but have faith it is because it is from God

Question 15

what is personalism

Answer 15

doing what is right for the people in the situation not what is best for the rules

Question 16

what is a practical example of pragmatism

Answer 16

Pope said to Africa to stop aids by having no sex before marriage instead of using condoms but this isn’t pragmatic but the wanting to stop aids is loving

5th fundamental principle - loving ends justify the means

Question 17

what is a practical example of relativism

Answer 17

stealing a loaf of bread - if there wasn’t a reason to steal then it is wrong and then if you’re stealing to feed a starving child then it is loving

Question 18

what is a practical example of personalism

Answer 18

parents didn’t want to follow ‘do not kill’ by killing one conjoined twin deliberately rather than both naturally. But the most ethical and loving thing to do was to kill one twin to save the other.

Question 19

what was fletcher’s example for situation ethics about the special bombing mission no 13 and what would situation ethics do

Answer 19

atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 152,000. Are the lives saved from ending the war quicker outwaying the ones killed?

Situation ethics says using nuclear weapons is always wrong because it is not loving to be killing innocentd and there is a big environmental impact

Question 20

what is Fletchers example of situation ethics about Mrs Bergmeier and sacrificial adultery

and what would situation ethics say

Answer 20

woman is in prison during ww2 and the only way she can be released to be with her family who want her back is to become pregnant. She got a guard to impregnate her and her family loved her despite adultery and loved the baby because it released the mum

Situation ethics says this is okay because it brought the family together and allowed them to be happy.

Question 21

what is the first fundamental principle about being intrinsically good

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 21

“one thing is intrinsically good; namely love : nothing else at all”

love is good just because that’s the nature of what it means

ST PAUL “these 3 remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”

Question 22

what is the second fundamental principle about decision making

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 22

” the ruling norm of Christian decision making is love: nothing else”

love is the main ethical principle in all decision making

ST PAUL “love is the basis of Christian decision making”

Question 23

what is the third fundamental principle about justice

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 23

“love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else”

Justice = love - justice is treating people fairly and so is agape

ROMANS - love fulfils the law
all 10 commandments can be summed up as love your neighbour

Question 24

what is the fourth fundamental principle about neighbour

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 24

“love wills the neighbour’s good, whether we like him or not”

love isn’t just for family and friends, but for everyone even if they’re our enimies and we must treat them fairly

Jesus “love your neighbour as yourself”

Question 25

what is the fifth fundamental principle about the ends and means

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 25

“only the end justifies the means, nothing else”

a loving consequence can justify a bad action e.g. stealing bread for starving child

IN MATTHEW “it is lawful to do good on the sabbath” - using energy on sabbath for good reason

Question 26

what is the sixth fundamental principle about how decisions are made

what does it mean

and a link to the bible

Answer 26

“love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively”

no specific strict rules but you have to choose most loving thing in each situation

CORINTHIANS “do everything in love”

Question 27

How can the boss principle (agape) be applied to homosexuality

Answer 27

Agape is unconditional so you cannot have one set of expectations for loving heterosexual relationships and another for loving homosexual relationships. Expectations for a good relationship should not be conditional to sexual orientation

Question 28

How can personalism be applied to homosexual relationships

Answer 28

if 2 homosexuals have been in a really strong relationship for a long time then it is more loving to let them get married to share their love than to follow strict rules

Question 29

how can pragmatism be applied to homosexuality

Answer 29

a homosexual couple in a place where is is illegal would not be pragmatic because of jail / death and so they shouldn’t be together because reality isn’t the ideal world

Question 30

hoq can realtivism be applied to homosexual relationships

Answer 30

in homosexual relationship where they genuinely love eachother it should be okay but not if the relationship is just for lust. But this should apply to all relationships not just homosexual ones.

Question 31

how can the fundamental principle “love and justice are the same” be applied to homosexual relationships

Answer 31

if a man and woman can get married as a symbol of their love then how can it be fair that 2 men / 2 women who could even love eachother even more, can’t get married?

Question 32

what are 2 key facts about homosexual relationships

Answer 32

Gay marriage was legalised in the uk in 2014

section 28 - not allowed to teach about homosexuals in school until 2000

Question 33

what is polyamory

Answer 33

the practise if relationships involving more than 2 people, with the knowledge and consent of everyone invloved

Question 34

how can the boss principle agape be applied to polyamory

Answer 34

agape is unconditional so you can’t have one set of expectations for loving monogamous relationships and another for loving polyamorous relationships. The expectations for a good relationship should not be conditional to number of people in the realtionship

Question 35

how can the fundamental principle of love being the ruling norm of christian decision making be applied to polyamory

Answer 35

although bible indicates that monogamous relationships are the norm, fletcher suggests the norm can be ignored if it is more loving to do so

polyamorous relationships can be good is consequences are unconditional love. However if they are based around lust and selfish consequences for one person then this wouldn’t be ethically right

Question 36

how can pragmatism be applied to polyamorous relationships

Answer 36

polyamorous relationships can lead to imbalance of love which causes jealousy and double standards which lead people to feel hurt.

Question 37

how can relativism be applied to polyamorous relationships

Answer 37

It depends on the type of relationship whether it is right or not because it could be very loving and work well, or it could just be for lust which would be wrong

Question 38

how can personalism be applied to polyamory

Answer 38

if someone is happy and loved in their situation then that should be respected even if we see it as abnormal

Question 39

what are the positives of polyamory

Answer 39

• if people involved say they are happy then their virtues should be respected
• one partner may fulfil the individual in a way the other partner cannot
• people can share their full love with more than one person

Question 40

what are the issues with polyamory

Answer 40

• odd for children (but it isn’t cause divorced parents, patchwork families)
• can support masculine dominance as usually a man w lots of women like the FLDS church which controls women

Question 41

quotes from Fletcher

Answer 41

“there are no rules, none at all”

legalism “choking web of laws

antinomianism “one enters into the decision making situation armed with no principles”

conscience “there is no conscience; ‘conscience’ is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions”