Situation Ethics

Question 1

Who was Joseph Fletcher ?

Answer 1

[1905-1991] he wrote the book ‘Sitaution Ethics (1966)’

• he was an ordained episcopalian priest and an American academic who taught Christian and medical ethics
• he applies the foundation for agape live in his moral system, rejecting rigid rules and commandments

Question 2

What did Fletcher believe ?

Answer 2

• he argued that love was what morality should serve (agape)
• he thought that someone making a moral decisions should be prepared to set aside the rules if it seemed that love would be better served doing so
  -‘The situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love’s need’ (Fletchers, ‘Situation Ethics (1966)’

Question 3

Define positivism

Answer 3

Acting good or moral in situations without demonstrating it.
I.e Fletcher posits love as good

Question 4

Define pragmatism

Answer 4

Acting, in moral situations, in a way that’s practical rather than purely ideologically

Question 5

Define personalism

Answer 5

Ethics centred on people rather than laws or objects

Question 6

What is the difference between extrinsic good and intrinsic good ?

Answer 6

Extrinsic good is good defined with reference to the end (its result it produces)

Whereas, intrinsic good would be good in and of itself, without any ulterior means

Question 7

Archbishop William Temple : influence on situation ethics

Answer 7

• Fletcher studied Archbishop William Temple. Temple’s ethic was personalist and love centred :

“There is only ultimate and invariable duty, and its formula is ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’. How to do this is another question, but this is the whole of moral duty’

Question 8

What does Fletcher conclude from his early studies ? (Quote about situational ethics)

Answer 8

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

Question 9

How does the Bible support situation ethics ?

Answer 9

In the New Testament Jesus makes love central. When Jesus was asked to say which commandment is first :

• ‘you shall love God will all your heart’…’you shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these’ [Mark 12]
• St.Paul says “and now faith, hope and love abide … and greatest of these is love” [1 Corinthians]

Question 10

Inspirations of Situation Ethics (people)

Answer 10

1. Rudolf Bultmann : argued against the idea that Jesus sought to establish some new ethical ideology. Jesus had no other ethics than ‘love thy neighbour’
2. Karl Barth : argued that ‘God’s commanding’ is not a rule applied individually to each specific example
3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer : the will of God in any situation is based on : needs of one’s neighbour and the model of Jesus
4. Paul Tillich : ‘The law of love is ultimate authority’

Question 11

Fletcher’s perspective on legalistic ethics

Answer 11

• Fletcher doesn’t necessarily agree with legalistic ethics, he rejected legality approaches that’s were based on fixed laws
• e.g if murder was prohibited, one would have to clarify killing in self-defence, killing in war and abortion
• Legalistic ethics would attempt to come up with a fixed absolute answer despite situation

Question 12

Fletchers perspective on antinomian ethics

Answer 12

• Fletcher was very critical of antinomian ethics, claiming that it was ‘ literally unprincipled, purely ad hoc and casual […] exactly anarchic’ [‘Situation Ethics’ (1966)]
• he believed that such ethics followed no order, structure or routine and simply moves from one situation to another

Question 13

Fletchers 4 working principles

Answer 13

• pragmatism : being practical rather than following the belief in ideology or systems
• relativism : ‘The situationist avoids words like “never” and “perfect” […] he avoids “absolutely” [‘Situation Ethics’ (1966)
• positivism : love is posited as good without demonstration
• personalism : the legalistic puts law first, the situationist puts people first

Question 14

What is the conscience for situationists ?

Answer 14

The conscience is the weighing up of the possible action before its taken, a kind of moral deliberation, rather than a faculty within a human being

Question 15

Define Agape

Answer 15

Unconditional love

Question 16

Is Fletcher’s argument relativist or absolute ? [AO2]

Answer 16

• many people will hold this argument as relativist, as it seems that situation ethics regards all law and focuses on the situation
• however, relativism holds that there can be NO universals. This is not the case for situation ethics
• Fletcher makes very clear that there is ONE universal and that is love

Question 17

How does John 3:16 show agape in the New Testament ?

Answer 17

Agape is supposed to be a love that is self-sacrificing not self-satisfying. This agape love is the love God showed the world when he sent his son to die

Question 18

How does John A.T Robinson support Fletcher’s situation ethics ?

Answer 18

• Robinson sees the idea of fixed moral truths as non existent when it comes to Jesus and the sermon on the mount
• arguing that precepts of Jesus are not supposed to be understood legalistically, ‘they are not legislation laying down the demands of everyone’
• instead these are illustrations of what love may require of anyone

Question 19

What does Fletcher state is the difference between a Christian and a non Christian situationist ?

Answer 19

Ps. Fletcher have up his Christina belief but did not give up on his situation ethics

• he states the difference between the two is that Christian situationist clearly and directly equates good with agape (altruistic love that puts the needs of others before those of oneself)
• while non-Christian’s will find some other account (maybe Aristotle’s flourishing)

Question 20

What are the 6 propositions ?

Answer 20

Fletcher developed six fundamental propostitions that the situationist should apply :

Love is =

1. The only thing intrinsically good
2. Deciding factor in Christian decisions
3. Justice
4. For your neighbour - friend or foe
   5 . The end result
5. Situational

Question 21

Corinthians 13:4-8 [quote]

Answer 21

“Love never fails”

Question 22

How does Fletcher interpret the conscience ?

Answer 22

• conscience for a situationist is not about a soul or spiritual voice
  -it is wrong to see conscience as a noun (name of something) instead it as a verb (action)
• it acts as though conscience is a process of deliberation

Question 23

William Barclay (critic of situation ethics)

Answer 23

“If we insist that in every situation man must make his own decisions. Then first of all we must make man morally lovingly fit to make that decision; otherwise we need the compulsion of law to make him do it”

Barclay essentially says if man has to make their own decisions based on the situation, we must ensure using law that EVERYONE does this morally and lovingly

He stresses that for freedom to be good. Love must be perfect … he says ‘freedom can become selfishness’

Question 24

AO2 Evaluation of Barclay’s arguement

Answer 24

His argument fails because…

• legalism has worse downsides
• it may be true that some people would abuse autonomy, but arguably it is not as bad as legalistic morality which is outdated and inflexible
• the direction history shows progress in education, therefore in the future situation ethics will be beneficial

His argument is successful because…

• although people might appear approved in modern times, if granted that freedom (and thus power) to do what they want, they wont choose the msot loving thing to do [power corrupts]
• ## human nature is so corrupt that humans cannot freely make good decisions, instead need laws to do so

Question 25

AO2 Evaluation : strengths

Answer 25

• it is adaptable to specific situations when rule based ethics are not always helpful
• provides a guide and support in a situation rather than rules
  You are morally responsible when applying situation ethics as you cannot rely on the advice of others

Question 26

AO2 Evaluation : weaknesses

Answer 26

• situation ethics does not actually offer a solution to solving moral problems,he just hopes that we will choose love with our conscience [offers a framework not a solution]
• what constitutes a situation ? How is it determined ?
• it’s teleological approach (focusing on the outcome of love) but how can you predict an action will bring about love ?
• doesn’t provide simple answers to difficult ethical questions, unlike rule based ethic
• it doesn’t specify who and when we apply love (i.e in abortion are applying love to the baby or mother)
• Fletcher is selective in the bible passags he picks
• human fallibility will cause individuals to be self interested

Question 27

AO2 : Philosophical weaknesses

Answer 27

Rev. John Macquarrie

Argues that situationism is fundamentally and incurably individualistic - never a basis for social morality

D.Z Phillips

Argues “when one finds oneself in situations where, whatever one does one is going to hurt someone”
- essentially despite showing love to one person, some else is always going to get hurt

Question 28

Is situation ethics a helpful method of moral decision making AO2 ?

Answer 28

Yes I would say it is helpful for moral decision making because if we were to take Augustine’s fall and believe the corrupt nature of humanity. This would mean our instinct and therefore morality is to do bad, therefore by following a universal law of love - it provides everyone religious or non religious with the opportunity to make moral decisions