Situation Ethics

Question 1

Antinomianism

Answer 1

Rejection of all moral laws, existentialism that the individual must decide what to do

Question 2

Legalism

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What does Fletcher propose is the best approach to ethics

Answer 3

The middle ground between these two approaches that we should do the most loving thing in every situation which is different in every situation

Question 4

What is Fletchers term for the most loving thing

Answer 4

Unconditional love or Agape

Question 5

What are Fletchers four working principles that are the foundations to his theory

Answer 5

Pragmatism
Personalism
Relativism
Positivism

Question 6

What was the William Brown incident

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What does Fletcher say about the William Brown incident

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Pragmatism

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Relativism

Answer 9

Right thing to do is situational, love is the reason to act but this must be applied in different ways depending on the situation

Question 10

Positivism

Answer 10

Laws are things humans create, and we must bring about love in the decisions we make, he compares it to theologians faith

Question 11

Personalism

Answer 11

Puts people at the centre of the decision making rather than adherence to the rules (as Jesus did)

Question 12

What are the six propositions

Answer 12

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

Question 13

explain proposition 1

Answer 13

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

Question 14

explain proposition 2

Answer 14

Jesus replaced Old Testament laws with love (healing on the sabbath), and enforced to love god and love thy neighbour

Question 15

explain proposition 3

Answer 15

justice is christian love applied rationally and calculated, isnt a sentimental love but one for the good of all people

Question 16

explain proposition 4

Answer 16

Love is an attitude not a feeling, it conveys an selfless commitment to treat others as best we can, parable of the Good Samaritan

Question 17

explain proposition 5

Answer 17

If our intended aim is love then any means of attaining it is justified

Question 18

explain proposition 6

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What was Joseph Fletchers book

Answer 19

Situation ethics a new morality

Question 20

What does the greek background of the word agape suggest

Answer 20

Altruistic feeling that exists regardless of the circumstance or person

Question 21

Reasons why situation ethics is helpful in moral decision making

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

Reasons why situation ethics is not helpful in moral decision making

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

How does Richard Mouw criticise situation ethics

Answer 23

Prioritising one biblical value in agape over another like gods commandments isnt christian and is wrong

Question 24

How does Macquarrie criticise situation ethics

Answer 24

It is incurably individualistic so majority of people will never agree on the most loving thing as it is subjective

Question 25

Sophia

Answer 25

Wisdom or general principles

Question 26

Kairos

Answer 26

Moment of decision

Question 27

How does Fletcher use kairos and Sophia

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Explain Fletchers example of acceptable abortion

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Explain Fletchers example of Trumans dilemma

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

Reasons why Ethical judgements should be based on agape

Answer 30

- 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

Question 31

Reasons why Ethical judgements should not be based on agape

Answer 31

- 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

Question 32

Which two famous christians express values of love being most important

Answer 32

Archbishop William Temple Bonhoeffer

Question 33

Which two christians express more of a focus on god being most important

Answer 33

Augustine Aquinas

Question 34

Reasons why situation ethics is religious

Answer 34

- 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

Question 35

Reasons why situation ethics isn't religious

Answer 35

- 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

Question 36

What does Fletcher believe conscience is

Answer 36

It is a function or actviity that we do when deciding, it is something that looks forward in prospective decision making

Question 37

What is Pauls reference to conscience that fletcher uses to back up his argument

Answer 37

Paul states that conscience is a director not a reviewer

Question 38

Reasons why SE is too subjective

Answer 38

- 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

Question 39

Reasons why SE is not too subjective

Answer 39

- Treats people with autonomy allowing them to make their own decisions - It is important flexibility remains as situations can differ so greatly

Question 40

How do Augustine and Barth reinforce the view that SE relies too heavily on human reason

Answer 40

Human nature is fallen and completely corrupt so our reason is faulted and can't function well