Situation ethics Flashcards
normative ethical theories: religious approaches
three approaches to moral thinking
- legalistic
- situational – situation ethics
- antinomian
situational
-middle ground between legalistic and antinomian
-moral action depends on situation
-situationist will enter a moral dilemma with rules, ethics and principles of community/tradition
-prepared to set aside these rules in the situation if love is better served doing so
-loving people not laws
-believes in the absolute rule of love that needs to be applied situationally
inspirations of situation ethics – the book
-in the Bible (New Testament) Jesus makes love central
-Jesus asked to say which commandment is first: “you shall love your God will all of your heart”… “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” - Mark 12
-St Paul: “And now faith, hope and love abide… and the greatest of these is love” - 1 Corinthians
Fletcher (1905 - 1991)
-applies Christian origins of agape love in his moral system
-roots it in the New Testament
-looks to the NT actions of Jesus who set aside laws or broke rules for the good of the people and love
-situation ethics = a christian ethic that should focus on a flexible message of forgiving grace founded on love rather than rigid laws and rules – Church disagrees
inspirations of situation ethics – the people
-studied Archbishop William Temple
-Temple’s ethic = personalist and love-centred:
-“there is only one ultimate and invariable duty, and its formula is ‘thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’”
-Fletcher concluded that love is “always good and right in every situation. love is the only universal”
-Bonhoeffer: the will of God in any situation is based on: needs of one’s neighbour and the model of Jesus
agape - unconditional love
-agape is greek word meaning love
-adopted by Christians to refer to Jesus’ sacrificial and generous love for others
-it is: love for others, doesn’t have to be returned, selfless, core of a life of faith, key measure for goodness or badness
-one universal and that is love
-particular judgements might be relative to situation but the absolute maxim of love must be applied
six fundamental principles
-Fletcher developed six fundamental principles that the situationist should apply
-love is:
1. the only thing intrinsically good
2. deciding factor in Christian decisions
3. justice
4. for your neighbour - friend or foe
5. end result
6. situational
four working propositions
-work hand-in-hand with the six fundamental principles
1. pragmatism: being practical, experience not theory, looks at what works
2. relativism: every situation is relative to Christian love
3. positivism: love doesn’t need to be demonstrated to know it is true and good, depends on Christians freely choosing faith that God is love, giving first place to Christian love (leap of faith)
4. personalism: person centred, putting people first and taking responsibility
conscience
-conscience for a situationist isn’t about a soul or spiritual voice
-wrong to see conscience as a noun (name of something) instead it is a verb (doing word)
-doesn’t simply review and reflect upon actions done or decisions made but on the process of making the decisions
-process of moral reasoning is informed by situation and love
Barclay
“if we insist that in every situation every man must make his own decision, then first of all we must make man morally and lovingly fit to make that decision; otherwise we need the compulsion of law to make him do it”
-situation ethics gives moral agencies a dangerous amount of freedom
-mankind has not yet come of age and so ‘still needs the protection of law’
strengths (+)
-is adaptable to specific situation when rule based ethics aren’t always helpful
-provides a guide and support in a situation rather than rules
-you are morally responsible when applying situation ethics as you cannot rely upon the advice of others or set laws
note
-mistake to interpret Fletcher’s theory as offering a solution to solving moral problems
-didn’t think ethics worked that way because the modern world is so uncertain
-instead, we need to be aware of certain key principles when making moral decisions
-in hopes that the decision we make is the right one
weaknesses (-)
-what is a ‘situation’?
-teleological approach (focuses on outcome of love), how can you predict an action bringing about love?
-doesn’t provide simple answers to difficult questions, unlike a rule based ethics (example, abortion)
-when love is served in a given situation, this focuses upon the person involved, but how far do you consider the people affected by a decision (ripple effect)
-do you consider the future affects and look beyond the immediate situation?
-Fletcher was selective about the Bible passages he chooses – defence = centrality of love is at the heart of the Christian message
-humans are fallible (flaws) and fail to consider the interests of others
-Fletcher’s ideas about conscience = vague, more about acting ‘conscientiously’
philosophical weaknesses (-)
-Macquarrie – situationism is fundamentally and incurably individualistic - never as basis for social morality
-Phillips – “when one finds oneself in situations where whatever one does one is going to hurt someone”, always going to hurt someone in the ripple
