Situation Ethics Flashcards
Antinomianism
Rejection of all moral laws, existentialism that the individual must decide what to do
Legalism
Over reliance on enforcing and applying endless rigid rules, forget what the main goal of the rules was in the first place, Jesus criticised this approach
What does Fletcher propose is the best approach to ethics
The middle ground between these two approaches that we should do the most loving thing in every situation which is different in every situation
What is Fletchers term for the most loving thing
Unconditional love or Agape
What are Fletchers four working principles that are the foundations to his theory
Pragmatism
Personalism
Relativism
Positivism
What was the William Brown incident
The ship struck an iceberg near Newfoundland and began to sink, one of the lifeboats was too full so the captain ordered male passengers into the sea who when they refused were thrown into the ocean
What does Fletcher say about the William Brown incident
The captain was right to do this, it was bravely sinful and the most loving thing because he sacrificed the life of a few men to save the life of many other women and children
Pragmatism
For something to be true it must be pragmatic, it must work in practice, theoretical solutions don’t work solutions must actually work and lead to good outcomes
Relativism
Right thing to do is situational, love is the reason to act but this must be applied in different ways depending on the situation
Positivism
Laws are things humans create, and we must bring about love in the decisions we make, he compares it to theologians faith
Personalism
Puts people at the centre of the decision making rather than adherence to the rules (as Jesus did)
What are the six propositions
1 - Only one thing is intrinsically good love
2 - Ruling norm of Christian decision is only love
3 - Justice is just love distributed so they are the same
4 - Love wills the neighbour good whether we like him or not
5 - Only the end justifies the means
6 - loves decision are made situationally
explain proposition 1
Some things may be extrinsically good like running to catch the bus, but running isnt good if someone is on a slippery floor, love is the only thing that is intrinsically good in everything
explain proposition 2
Jesus replaced Old Testament laws with love (healing on the sabbath), and enforced to love god and love thy neighbour
explain proposition 3
justice is christian love applied rationally and calculated, isnt a sentimental love but one for the good of all people
explain proposition 4
Love is an attitude not a feeling, it conveys an selfless commitment to treat others as best we can, parable of the Good Samaritan
explain proposition 5
If our intended aim is love then any means of attaining it is justified
explain proposition 6
Gather the facts of the matter before casting judgement on what is most loving, we can’t decide what is most loving before knowing the situation, christianity is too legalistic with sexua ethics
What was Joseph Fletchers book
Situation ethics a new morality
What does the greek background of the word agape suggest
Altruistic feeling that exists regardless of the circumstance or person
Reasons why situation ethics is helpful in moral decision making
- Love as a main principle is hard to object to
- person centred which seems close to Jesus teachings
- situation ethics allows a decision to be made in every circumstance which absolutists theories do not
- It is flexibile allowing people to uphold the spirit of the law without being obsessed with the law
- Considers the bigger picture doesn’t just apply a rule straight away
Reasons why situation ethics is not helpful in moral decision making
- Too vague as a relativist theory
- No moral boundaries or protection of human rights as everything is permitted if the situation was extreme enough
- requires people to make predictions about an outcome of their actions as the most loving but this is impossible to get right every time
- decision could have multiple consequences or longer term consequences that could be bad
- Is a christian utilitarianism as substitutes love for pleasure
- Christians disagree about what love is and how to practice it
How does Richard Mouw criticise situation ethics
Prioritising one biblical value in agape over another like gods commandments isnt christian and is wrong
How does Macquarrie criticise situation ethics
It is incurably individualistic so majority of people will never agree on the most loving thing as it is subjective
Sophia
Wisdom or general principles
Kairos
Moment of decision
How does Fletcher use kairos and Sophia
He argues when applying love we should consider our wisdom or general rules we hold and whether the moment is right to break them in order to apply love
Explain Fletchers example of acceptable abortion
Young girl in a psychiatric ward was raped, abortion was illegal so it was refused for her. Fletcher argues that this was wrong as the most loving thing for all participants would be to abort the child
Explain Fletchers example of Trumans dilemma
the atomic bomb killed 150,000 people, Truman and his team did this as they thought it would save the lives of millions more people if the war kept going as it was the only way to stop the Japanese from continuing to fight due to there code of honour, this was taking in all the facts of the situation and carrying out what Truman believed was the most loving.
Reasons why Ethical judgements should be based on agape
- Jesus stated that agape summed up the most important commandments
- useful to know when to abide or break our Sophia
- relativist Principe but is harder to manipulate for bad than pleasure and pain in utilitarianism
Reasons why Ethical judgements should not be based on agape
- The concept of agape can be interpreted in different ways which opens up less passionate ways of interpreting agape which can lead to situations producing different results
- Agape seems to deal mainly with exceptionally difficult cases, most the time conventional rules are fine
- There are other principles that may be better like pleasure, duty, purpose, or for christians gods commandments
Which two famous christians express values of love being most important
Archbishop William Temple
Bonhoeffer
Which two christians express more of a focus on god being most important
Augustine
Aquinas
Reasons why situation ethics is religious
- The ethic was clearly found in Jesus teachings about loving god and thy neighbour
- Jesus rejection of jewish and the pharisees legalism is reflective of SE
- For Jesus Love is the evidence of true religious faith
Reasons why situation ethics isn’t religious
- SE was rejected by the church as it opposed natural law and many bible teachings
- Fletcher is selective of Jesus teachings as he condemns adultery and divorce
- Fletcher himself converted to atheism
- Agape as an unconditional care for people isnt explicitly christian, this can be see as act utilitarianism
What does Fletcher believe conscience is
It is a function or actviity that we do when deciding, it is something that looks forward in prospective decision making
What is Pauls reference to conscience that fletcher uses to back up his argument
Paul states that conscience is a director not a reviewer
Reasons why SE is too subjective
- Emphasis on individual decision making means the ethic could never be applied in society
- Community is still important to validate others decisions (Bonhoeffer at finkenwalde)
- SE is overly optimistic about human ability to reason and reach clear moral decisions. Bliks are irrational
- Fletchers view on conscience in decision making is very vague
Reasons why SE is not too subjective
- Treats people with autonomy allowing them to make their own decisions
- It is important flexibility remains as situations can differ so greatly
How do Augustine and Barth reinforce the view that SE relies too heavily on human reason
Human nature is fallen and completely corrupt so our reason is faulted and can’t function well
