Situation Ethics Flashcards
What is situation ethics?
A liberal Christian theory of ethics thats argues that the central concern of ethics should be agape.
Agape definition
Selfless and unconditional love
Who is the key figure in situation ethics?
Joseph Fletcher
What are the social, political and cultural influences on situation ethics?
Origins in USA 1960s…both society and the church were facing radical change (Civil Rights, the pill, abortion legalised)
Church was concerned that new views would lead to the degradation and sexual immorality. Feel youths need more guidance.
What does JATRobinson contribute to situation ethics?
Stop thinking about God as a remote, transcendent being, but instead as a god who is part of our lives and the ground of our overbeing.
Demythologise God and make religious arguments fit with modern science within the spirit of the Bible.
Changing Christian view on ethics and felt humankind had come of age and could be free to be moral.
How does Jesus demonstrate situation ethics in his teaching?
Matthew 3 - condemns the Pharisees strict observation of religious laws. He argues for a more situationist approach, using love as a basis of our decisions.
Define legalism.
Prefabricated moral rules, codes and regulations.
Define antinomianism
Realistic, no rules whatsoever, do whatever whenever.
What are the 4 working principles?
Pragmatism
Relativism
Positivism
Personalism
Define pragmatism.
A moral decision must work practically.
Define relativism.
A moral decision shouldn’t be based on following fixed laws, only love!
Define positivism.
A moral decision must aim to do good.
Define personalism.
A moral decisions must aim to prioritise human wellbeing over any laws that may, in certain situations, not provide the best outcome.
What are the 6 principles?
- Agape is the absolute ruling norm of christian decision-making, nothing else.
- Love overrides all other laws.
- Justice and love are the same, justice is love distributed.
- Love is selfless, without preferences.
- Love is the end, not the means to an end e.g. money or power.
- The loving action is relative to the situation.
Give a case study for situation ethics.
A married German woman with 3 children is told she can only be released from a soviet camp if she is pregnant. She asks a camp guard to make her pregnant. Her family welcome her and the baby she has home. Is this adultery or love?
