Situation Ethics Flashcards
Who was Joseph Fletcher, what did he write and when?
- Protestant minister interested in American pragmatism
- ‘Situation Ethics: The New Morality’
- 1966
What is legalism?
Strict, absolutist approach to ethics
What was Fletcher’s concern about legalism?
That restrictive rules would take priority over people
What is antinomianism?
System rejecting any basis for general morality
Why did Fletcher reject antinomianism?
Found it directionless and unprincipled
What is the purpose of the 4 working principles?
To outline how agape could be used in practice in ethical decision making
What are the 4 working principles?
- Pragmatism
- Relativism
- Positivism
- Personalism
What is pragmatism?
Practically achieving a loving result
What is relativism?
Love is the only rule and must be related to every moral decision making situation
What is theological positivism?
Faith without reference to reason - thinking supported by faith
What is theological naturalism?
Using reason and experience to dictate what is acceptable to believe
What is personalism?
Putting people at the centre of decision making
What is agape?
‘selfless love’, the unconditional concern for the well being of others
How does Situation Ethics use legalist principles?
Treats them respectfully as illuminators, but they should be set aside in favour of love
What is the purpose of the 6 fundamental principles?
Elucidate and break down the principle of agape
What are the 6 fundamental principles?
- Love is the only good
- Love is the ruling norm of Christianity
- Love equals justice
- Love for all
- Loving ends justify the means
- Love decides situationally
Explain ‘love is the only good’.
Only love is intrinsically good
Explain ‘love is the ruling norm of Christianity’.
Love is the only rule that should never be set aside
What is the case of Mother Maria?
She effectively committed suicide (breaking laws of killing) in saving a Jewish girl from a concentration camp (loving end and cause).
Explain ‘love equals justice’.
Justice is love fairly shared out
Explain ‘love for all’.
Love is non-preferential
Explain ‘loving ends justify the means’.
An action becomes meaningful because of the consequences it brings about
Explain ‘love decides situationally’.
Moral decisions concern living reality, and are only right when they are loving
What is the Boss Principle?
‘Love God through your neighbour’
What is agape as a boss principle?
A living principle that embodies the spirit of all other laws
What are 4 theories of conscience that Fletcher rejected?
- Conscience is moral intuition
- Conscience is guidance from the Holy Spirit
- Conscience is an internalised value system inherited from culture
- Conscience is reason making moral judgements
What is Fletcher’s view on conscience?
Something we do rather than something we have, it is the direction of decision making toward love
How is Situation Ethics principled relativist?
Love is the only principle that should always be followed - there are no other absolute standards of right and wrong
How is Situation Ethics consequentialist?
Focuses on the role of conscience in looking forward to the most loving outcome
How is Situation Ethics teleological?
The end goal of morality is helping people
How does the parable of the Good Samaritan support Situation Ethics?
- condemns legalist approaches (priest passes by due to clergy laws)
- shows agape is not limited by race or creed
Where is the Parable of the Good Samaritan?
Luke 10:25-37
What do the teachings of St Paul show about agape?
Love is the best of all good, if legalism detracts from love it should be abandoned
St Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:
‘it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.’
What is the legalist approach to polyamory?
- DCT and NL
- relationships are created by God with the purpose of reproduction
- extra-marital relationships are adulterous
What is Situation Ethics’ view on polyamory?
- it is individual, so falls outside the concern of the law
- love and sex are promoted as long as it is agapeic, equal, honest and consensual
What is a polyamorous relationship?
A fully consensual and honest romantic or sexual relationship between 3 or more people
What is the view of the Catholic church and Church of England on polyamory?
- sex must be between a married, heterosexual couple
- monogamy is God’s intention
What is the view of the Catholic Church on homosexuality?
- ‘intrinsically disordered’
- sex is for the purpose of reproduction, so it is against God’s creative purpose
- homosexuals must live a chaste life
What is the view of the Church of England on homosexuality?
Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman
What is Fletcher’s view on homosexuality?
- sex is only wrong if it hurts someone or is immature
- it is not the duty of the law to concern itself with sex
- agape can be threatened by legalistic intrusion
Situation Ethics provides a practical basis for ethics for religious people:
- Uses philosophy and ethics of Jesus
- Agape promotes Christian values
- Gives personal freedom in line with teachings of Jesus
Situation Ethics does not provide a practical basis for ethics for religious people:
- Doesn’t necessarily accurately reflect New Testament views on morality
- Laws and absolutes are there for the protection of society, made through experience
- It is difficult to accurately judge outcomes
Agape is the only intrinsic good:
- God is love, so acting lovingly is good, we are created in the image of love
- Aquinas recognises love as the greatest revealed virtue
- Love is the basis of all other virtues
Agape is not the only intrinsic good:
- Beatitudes cite many virtues as good
- Leaves other virtues ignored and under developed
- Good is too inconsistent and variable to be denoted as love alone
Situation Ethics promotes justice:
- Considers situations relatively
- ‘Love equals justice’
- Encourages selfless love as the basis of moral decision making
Situation Ethics does not promote justice:
- Lack of moral rules causes chaos
- Love is subjective, we cannot truly share it equally
- Barclay says there will always be dispute over the most loving action
What did William Barclay write and when?
‘Ethics in a Permissive Society’ 1971
Situation Ethics promotes immorality:
- Barclay says human nature is not mature enough to designate relative morality
- Someone can act unjustly with the excuse of love
- Consequences of loving actions may not reflect their intentions
Situation Ethics does not promote immorality:
- It is the duty of the agent to strive for the most selflessly loving outcome
- Jesus and St Paul both recognise love as the greatest commandment
- Promotes responsibility and selfless concern
Situation Ethics is effective in dealing with ethical issues:
- Flexible and practical
- Allows individual freedom
- Considers agapeic consequences
Situation Ethics is ineffective in dealing with ethical issues:
- Lack of legalism presents opportunity for chaos
- Relativism gives too much individual freedom
- Barclay argues Fletcher’s morality was dangerous for society
Agape should replace religious rules:
- Love majorly features in many religious teachings
- Personalism is often promoted in religion
- Augustine and Aquinas held love as a superlative value
Agape should not replace religious rules:
- Puts too much emphasis on relativism, above God’s will
- Neglects other virtues and religious traditions
- Barclay presents law as the ‘distillation of experience’, unwise to discard them
Legalism - Fletcher
‘Any web thus woven sooner or later chokes its weavers’
Situationism - Fletcher
‘The situational factors are so primary that we may even say “circumstances alter rules and principles”’
Love - Corinthians
‘If I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing’
Marriage - Hebrews 13:4
‘marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral’
Morality of sex - Fletcher
‘sarcasm and graft are immoral, but not sexual intercourse unless it is malicious, callous or cruel’
Conscience - Fletcher
‘function not a faculty’
