Situation ethics Flashcards
What is relativism?
- In Fletcher’s system, it is the idea that morality is relative to the situation.
- Jesus agapeic love relatives the absolute but does not absolute the relative.
What are the three approaches to moral thinking?
Legalistic, situational and antinomian
Where does situation ethics lie in the three approaches to moral thinking?
In the situational category as it is the middle ground between legalistic and antinomian
Moral action depends on the situation. A situationist will enter a moral dilemma with rules and ethics but is prepared to put these rules aside if love is better served by doing so.
What are the inspirations of situation ethics?
Jesus in the bible “the second is this, ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’ there is no other comandment greater than these.” (gospel of Mark)
Jesus wants to abandon the legalistic nature or morality within Jewish society and give the new law, love.
St. Paul (Romans) “owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law”
Love is the main virtue that guides humanity.
‘love is the ultimate law’
Who was Joseph Fletcher?
An American professor and notable contributor in the field of bioethics. He advocated the value and rightness of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics and cloning.
He argues that having no life at all is better than some of the forms of which ‘life’ is led.
In 1967 he abandoned Christianity and became a humanist.
How did fletcher reassess christianity?
He applies the Christian origins of agape love to his moral system. This comes from Jesus in the New Testament, who broke rules for the good of the people and for love.
His perception was that ‘traditional’ Christian ethics needed a new focus. He believed the focus was too legalistic and rigidly rule-driven rather than on the ethic of agape shown by Jesus. He wanted a shift away from deontological rules and duties.
What is the context behind situation ethics?
Fletchers situation ethics gained a popular following as it allowed the religious believer to fit their views into the moral and political landscape of the 1950’s.
Church membership was declining due to strict deontological systems and legalistic moratilty under NML, there was a weakining of religious bonds due to the insecuruity arising from a percieved absense of god duing ww2
A rise of sciience also created a displacement in the need for god.
Situation ethic provided freedom from what many regarded as the repressive sicial and religious attitudes of the older genertion.
What quote from the anecdote about the cab driver sums up situation ethics?
“There are times when a man has to push his principles aside and do the right thing.’
What quotes from jospeh fletcher hims;ef can be used in relation to situation ethics?
‘ethics deals with human relations. Situation ethics puts people at the centre of concern’
‘the reader will find a method here, but no system. It is a methos of ‘situational’ or contextual decision making, but system building has no part in it.’
What does fletcher think about legalism?
Fletcher arugues that it has no place in society as it is blindly following moral rules it dosent account for ‘ the headachs and heartbreaks of life’
Scripted approaches to marality loses sight of the reality of life; morality does not fit into the box that is a set of deontological rules, it mjust be versatile and able to adapt with the difficult situations we find ourselves in life.
‘any web thus woven soner or later chokes its weavers’ - the rules do not love or benefit its followers, only causes them to follow a system mindlessly and there isnt any true morality in that.
To hide behind obedience to moral rules is ethical cowardice and it stops any kind of moral development that might enrich our lives.
What is situationaism?
The idea is that the only rule is agape love. All other rules and laws are ‘…only valid if they happen to serve love in any situation.’
Jesus and situationism
Jesus frequently put aside the rules and laws to do the most loving thing.
The adulterous woman ‘let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.’
Fletcher and situationism
Fletcher agrees that reason is the instrument of judgement but he rejects revelation, except the commandment to love god by lovng ones neighbour
Rules are good guidlines but they are breakable.
Situational factors are key. SE is:
‘empirical, fact-minded, data conscoius, inquiring.
- SE is anti moralstic and anti legalistic
‘the written code kills, but the spirit gives life’
‘ for the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘ you shall love your neigbour as yourself.’
Define pragmatic
the presumption that we should do what is pragmatic, that is what works in the situation
Define agape love.
Selfless love, the sacrificial love of biblical Christianity, is used by Christians to describe God’s unconditional love.
Joseph Fletcher’s quote on love in SE?
“There is only one thing that is always good and right, instrisnicly good, regardless of the context, and that one thing is love”
“ t all depends on the situation.. what is right in one case may be wrong in another”
What are the four different types of love?
- storge
- eros
- philia
- agape
What are the four working principles?
- pragmatism
- relativism
- positivism
- personalism
What is pragmatism?
- something that is pragmatic is something that works and is practical, so the good is quite simply what works and maximises love
- if it does not work then it has no point
What did William James say about pragmatism?
” a pragmatist turns his back upon fixed principles and preteneded absolutes”
A case study linked to pragmatism?
- The conjoined twins Mary and Jodie both were going to die as their shared organs couldn’t support them both. the RC church believed it was wrong to kill one girl so they said both girls should be allowed to die.
- however, the doctor separated the girls allowing Jodie to live over mary.
- letting both girls die is not pragmatic it would be of more use and more practical, to save one girl at the expense of the other
What is relativism?
- absolute commands such as ‘do not commit adultery’ or ‘do not lie’ become relative to the situation and to love
- only love is constant or absolute, everything else is variable.
Felecher quotes on relativism?
” the situationist avoids words like ‘never’ and perfect’ and ‘always’ and ‘complete’ as he avoids the plague.”
“ we are always..commanded to act lovingly, but how we do it depends on our won responsible estimate of the situation”
What is positivism?
Positivism is the belief that moral decisions begin with a commitment to love, not by proving it through logic or evidence. It assumes that “God is love” and uses this as the foundation for making ethical choices.
for this, you must place faith over reason.
