Situation Ethics Flashcards
1
Q
Fletchers 3 approaches to situation ethics
A
Situational
Legalistic
Antinomian
2
Q
Situational
A
- Each individual situation is different and absolute rules are too demanding and restrictive
- Instead we should decide most loving cause of action
- Not fully relativist as absolute principle that love is non-negotiable
3
Q
Legalistic
A
- Someone who follows absolute rules and laws
- Fletcher rejects as leads to unthinking obedience
- E.g. Once murder prohibited must clarify self-defence, war, abortion - leads to textbook morality
4
Q
Antinomian
A
- Someone who rejects all rules and laws
- Fletcher rejected as leads to social chaos
5
Q
Four working principles
A
Relativism
Pragmatism
Positivism
Personalism
6
Q
Relativism
A
- There are no free absolutes apart from all being relative to agape love
- ‘situation ethics relativises the absolute, it does not absolutise the relative’
- If love demands you steal food then you should
- special meaning of relativism - ‘principled relativism’ every action is relative to one principle of agape love
7
Q
Pragmatism
A
What you propose must be practical and work in practice towards the end, which is love
8
Q
Positivism
A
- Kant and natural law are based on reason as both theories argues reason can uncover right course of action
- Fletcher disagreed with this: you have to start with a positive choice or commitment
- Reason isn’t the basis of faith, but worlds within faith
- SE depends on Cristian’s freely choosing faith that God is love, so giving first place to Christian love
9
Q
Personalism
A
- Legalistic puts the law first
- situationist puts people first
- he asks what to do to help humans best
- ‘there are no values in the sense of inherent goods - value is what happens to something when it happens to be useful to love working for the sake of persons’
10
Q
6 fundamental principles
First
A
‘Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love: nothing else at all’
- Only love good, actions aren’t intrinsically good or evil, it depends upon whether they promote most loving result
- They are extrinsically good, depending on the circumstances or consequences
11
Q
6 fundamental principles
Second
A
‘The ruling norm of Christian decision it love: nothing else’
- Jesus replaced Torah with principle of love
- E.g. His decision to work on the sabbath day, rejecting obligations
- The commandments are not absolute
- Jesus broke them when love demanded it
12
Q
Origins of agape in New Testament
A
- William temple - ‘there is only one ultimate and invariable duty: and it’s formula is this: thou shalt love thy neighbour as they self’ (inspired Fletcher)
- Love is heart of God’s character ‘God is Love’ 1John
- Agape if the highest form of love ‘greater live has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends’ John 15 (sacrificial love)
13
Q
Strength
Not limited to reason
A
- Whilst rationality may play a part in working out best interest of other, love is not limited to cold, hard reason
- Rationality cannot motivate our actions as it is dispassionate
- Love moves us to do what reason shows us is the best outcome
14
Q
Strength
Autonomous
A
- Allows individual to make own decision. Acting out of love frees us from having to follow established authorities of which we have become distrustful
- Paul said that Christians have died to the law and ‘are not under the law but under grace’
15
Q
Strength
Flexibility and practical
A
- Takes into account the complexities of human life and can make tough decisions there from a legalistic perspective, all actions seem wrong
- Gives it a dynamism that can free up dead locked moral dilemmas
- Able to take least bad of two options, which legalistic approaches can’t
- Legalistic may always feel band to tell truth but then murder seeks victims they are in impossible position
- Situationist can lay aside rule of not lying for better outcome of saving person’s life
