Situation Ethics Flashcards
What is the main principle of situation ethics?
The right thing to do is the one that is most loving
What is William temple’s view of situation ethics?
He believes that one should love their neighbour as they do themselves and believes this to be the only rule needed for moral duty
What is Paul Tillich’ science of situation ethics?
The law of love is the only important moral law as it always arrives at the correct answer. It is consistent and not fanatical.
What is Justin fletcher’s view of situation ethics?
He believes that every principle is sometimes interrupted by what is morally right in a certain situation
What are the 4 working principles of situation ethics?
- pragmatism= the consequence of every action must be love and must work
- relativism= no fixed rules, but always relative to love
- positivism= applying natural human experience and reason to Christian ideas or morality
- personalism= morals depend on the priorities of an individual- putting people first
What are the 6 fundamental principles of situation ethics?
- Actions aren’t intrinsically good - loving consequences
- Love replaces law where necessary
- Justice is love distributed/ fairly and equally
- Love is not sentimental or erotic, but a desire for the good of another - agape love - unconditional
- When weighing up a situation, one must consider the desired ends and motives
- Made situationally, not conditionally
What are the strengths of situation ethics?
- takes into account the complexities of human life
- love can give more of a positive outcome- rewarding
- goal of Jesus
- morality for its own sake- not to obey authority
- allows freedom when making choices/ feee will
What are the weaknesses of situation ethics?
- must loving thing isn’t necessarily the right thing
- puts humans on the same omniscience level as God
- too subjective
- gap of ambiguity between loving ‘attitude’, ‘sight’ or ‘consequences’
- immeasurable
