Situation Ethics

Question 1

Who is the scholar

Answer 1

Joseph Fletcher

Question 2

What are the three different ways of making moral decisions?

Answer 2

1) legalistic ethics
2) antinomian effect
3) situation ethics

Question 3

What is legalistic ethics?

Answer 3

This is where it has a set of moral rules and regulations but it runs into problems and life’s complexity requires additional laws for things such as murder, killing self defence and killing and war

Question 4

What’s antinomian ethics?

Answer 4

This is the reverse of legalistic ethics and is literally means against law a person using this doesn’t really count on ethical systems at all and they enter each decision making it if each occasion was totally unique

Question 5

What are the four working principles?

Answer 5

Pragmatism
Relativism
Positivism
Personalism

Question 6

What’s pragmatism?

Answer 6

Moral actions must work or achieve some realistic goal

Question 7

What is relativism?

Answer 7

There are no fixed laws, which must always be obeyed

Question 8

What is positivism?

Answer 8

First place given to Christian love and this is rooted in faith

Question 9

What is personalism?

Answer 9

People come first, not rules or ideas

Question 10

What are the 6 fundamental principles

Answer 10

• Only one thing is intrinsically good. Love
• The ruling norm of Christian decision is love
• Love and justice are the same
• Love Will the neighbours good, whether we like him or not
• Only the end justifies the means nothing else
• Decisions are made situationally not prescriptively

Question 11

What is the a key aspect of situation ethics?

Answer 11

One single rule – the rule of agape. This love is not merely an emotion but involves doing what is best for the other person, unconditionally.

Question 12

When is lying justified?

Answer 12

Lying is justified if you’re doing the most loving thing as it is the best thing for the person

Question 13

Name Fletcher’s 4 case studies

Answer 13

Sacrificial suicide: man has a set time to live, choose either to buy pills or £100,000 to his family
Justified mass killing : Nagasaki and Hiroshima nuclear bomb
Patriotic prostitution: have sex with a spy to save a war
Sacrificial adultery: have sex with a soldier to have a baby to cross the borders back to family

Question 14

What does permissive mean?

Answer 14

Allowing or having more freedom and options

Question 15

What were the five changes of laws in 1960s?

Answer 15

The lady Chatterley trial
The contraceptive pill
The abortion act
The sexual offences act
The divorce reform act

Question 16

What did catholic traditions believe about situation affects?

Answer 16

They reject situation ethics

Question 17

What are strengths of situation ethics?

Answer 17

• Consistent with teachings of Jesus
• It helped people to make tough decisions as it flexible
• It emphasises love (agape)
• Where moral rules collide, Situation Ethics gives a way of resolving the conflict: love

Question 18

What are weaknesses of situation ethics?

Answer 18

• it is a Christian system so other faiths or atheist may not want to follow the example of Jesus
• It could allow for almost any action
• It is a very individualistic and subjective theory as love is very subjective
• It is difficult to predict the future results of actions and decision decisions based on love is unreliable

Question 19

What are quotes or Bible references for situation ethics?

Answer 19

“ love your neighbour”
“ the law was made for man and not man-made for the law”
Jesus held the sick on Sabbath