situation ethics

Question 1

what are some concepts and new ideas that changed christian thinking in the 1960’s

Answer 1

-Contraception
- Alcohol and drugs
-Divorce reform act
-General movement away from the church.
Fletcher recognized this and wanted to establish a way in which christian thinking can cohere with the developing world.

Question 2

what is situation ethics the middle way of?

Answer 2

legalism- Laws and rules

antonomism- no laws and no rules

Question 3

what are the four working principles?

Answer 3

pragmatism
relativism
personnalism
positivism

Question 4

what is the definition of the working principle ‘pragmatism’?

Answer 4

the idea that every action must work or achieve some sort of realistic goal.

Question 5

what is the definition of the working principle ‘personalism’?

Answer 5

humans are the most important, every action should work towards the benefit of human life. “people are more important than standards” Robinson.

Question 6

what is the definition of ‘relativism’?

Answer 6

there are no fixed laws that must be obeyed. decisions should be made situation-ally. any action can be relevant providing it creates love.

Question 7

what is the definition of ‘positivism’?

Answer 7

the idea that love is a priority and if you accept god as a priority you also accept love as a priority.

Question 8

what is Agape love?

Answer 8

an unconditional CHRISTIAN love. it demands we treat everyone equally (love thy neighbor as thyself, love thy enemies).
Rudolph Bultmann- the only law that Jesus taught and followed E.G. day of the Sabbath.

Question 9

how did Jesus promote Agape love?

Answer 9

• healed the lepers that where ‘unclean’.
• hung around with prostitutes and non-Jews
• forgave everyone
• worked on day of the Sabbath (good example)

Question 10

name 4 out of the 6 fundamental principles?

Answer 10

• The ruling norm of Christianity is love, nothing else.
• only the end justifies the means.
• one thing is intrinsically good, namely love and nothing else.
• decisions should be made situation-ally and not prescriptively.

Question 11

describe what is meant by the fundamental principle of ‘ The ruling norm of Christianity is love, nothing else’ ?

Answer 11

this is the idea that Jesus being a role model for all Christians acted towards love and nothing else e.g. by working on the day of the Sabbath and breaking the law. Jesus was motivated by love and didn’t act towards any rules. Rudolph Bultmann “no ethics need to be systematic because Jesus certainly wasn’t”

Question 12

describe what is meant by the fundamental principle of ‘only the end justifies the means.’?

Answer 12

this is concerned with the idea that the outcomes is the key focus. The out come is always more important than the action. eg. murdering someone that planned on murdering a whole village.

Question 13

Describe what is meant by the fundamental principle of ‘decisions should be made situationally and not perspectively’?

Answer 13

Man needs to make decisions situationally, you cannot have planned and law motivated response for all moral issue as no to problems are the same, take each situation by its own merits.

Question 14

Describe what it means by the fundamental principle of ‘one thing is intrinsically good and namely love is nothing else’ ?

Answer 14

It reinforces pragmatism and relativism, everything aims for love as love is the only thing that’s fundamentally and interest good.

Question 15

What was Fletchers case?

Answer 15

Mrs bergmeirer, was taken to a prisioner of war camp, she was split from her children and her husband she asked to be pregnant by a guard to then be released.

Question 16

Why does situation ethics justify Mrs birgmeires decision?

Answer 16

As it’s the most loving thing to do to be reunited with her husband and children. Also the newly born child will receive a good life also.

Question 17

What did Tillich and Robinson believe.

Answer 17

Agreed with the idea of love is the basis of law “the law of love is the ultimate law because it is the negation of law”. He said that love is at the core of what is meant to be Christian, rather than inflexible absolute moral rules.

Question 18

What did John bishop Robinson say?

Answer 18

Developed the views of Joseph fletcher he was supportive of situation ethics and himself wrote “assertions about God are in the last analysis assertions about love”.

Question 19

name one strength and weakness of Agape love?

Answer 19

STRENGTH- it focuses on bringing about the most love and good in all situations, even if the action is bad.
WEAKNESS- it unrealistic, you cannot expect everyone to treat everyone the same (eg. treating an stranger the same as your mum)

Question 20

name one strength and one weakness to the four working principles?

Answer 20

STRENGTH-it allows us to evaluate and consider each situation separately and individually with no stern and set laws to influence decisions.
WEAKNESS- most dilemmas offer an obvious course of action with no need to reference these principles.

Question 21

name one strength and one weakness of the 6 fundamental principles? (only namely love is intrinsically good and nothing else, the end justifies the mean, the ruling norm of Christianity is love and nothing else, all decisions should be made situation ally and not prescriptively)

Answer 21

STRENGTH- helps us understand the demands of agape

WEAKNESS- claims for no rules apply theory however it says love is the only rule- contradictory?

Question 22

name one strength and weakness of fletchers case?

Answer 22

STRENGTH- gives us an example to help us understand fletches idea of situation ethics.
WEAKNESS- these are exceptional cases which do not happen in everyday life so therefore the rules cannot be applied in the modern day (William Barclay).

Question 23

name one strength and one weakness of Robinson and Tillich’s argument?

Answer 23

weakness- you cannot always disregard the action in hope of a positive outcome.
strength- apply able for both Christian and non religious society.