Situation Ethics

Question 1

Situation Ethics

Answer 1

relativist
teleological
consequentialist
rejects legalism - stops people thinking for themselves
rejects antinomianism - if there are no rules at all ‘one enters into the decision making situation armed with no principles’
rejects conscience - conscience is not a noun but a verb, God cannot be working inside of us
the middle ground - boss principle - agape (unconditional love)

Question 2

Six Fundamental Principles

Answer 2

Love is the only good
Love is the ruling norm of Christianity
Love = justice
Love for all
Loving ends justify the means
Love decides situationally

Question 3

Four Working Principles

Answer 3

Pragmatism: bad actions can be justified by loving consequences
Relativism: no action is right or wrong in itself
Positivism: situation ethics is based on faith not proof
Personalism: people are more important than the rules

Question 4

Strengths of Situation Ethics

Answer 4

provides an alternative Christian ethic
flexible and practical
can free up moral stalemates - lesser of two evils

Question 5

Weaknesses of Situation Ethics

Answer 5

not easy to ensure that your perception of the situation is correct
how do you know that the action you take will have the most loving result
how can we be sure that our motives are pure
St Paul lists more things than just love as important - joy, peace

Question 6

Relativist

Answer 6

there are no universal moral rights and wrongs - depends on the circumstances

Question 7

Teleological

Answer 7

the goal of our actions should form the basis for moral judgement and not the action itself

Question 8

Consequentialist

Answer 8

situation ethics will judge whether an action is right or wrong depending on whether its consequences are good