Situation Ethics Flashcards
What is the context for Situation Ethics?
teleological ethical system
based on Fletcher’s book ‘Situation Ethics’ published in 1966
Fletchers 3 approaches to moral thinking
legalistic
- based of fixed laws
antinomian
- having no laws at all
situational
- looking at the context of the moral problem and adopting the law of doing the most loving thing in that situation
Agape Love
Fletcher thought it should be the centre of ethics
Understood as Christian love which is unconditional and reflects the love of God
Fletcher thought the ‘law of love’ should guide moral decision making
Six propositions
- only thing intrinsically good is agape love
- love is the ruling norm for Christian ethics
- justice is love distributed
- love is an act of will
- love should be the goal of moral action
- love should be considered in the context of each situation
Four working principles
Pragmatism
- practicality in world.
- instead of following abstract principles of philosophy it looks for something which will work in practical circumstances
Relativism
- rules are not to be seen as fixed and can be changed according to the situation
Personalism
- people matter more laws.
- Needs of people should be considered when moral actions are taken
Conscience
- is not seen as reliable set internal rules
Fletcher’s understanding of conscience
- does not guide human actions
- not a store of reliable of rules
- not kind of inner voice with access to divine truth
- verb not a noun
- describe what people do when trying to make a moral decision
Strengths
- relativist so allows considerations of individuals
- not outdated
- quick and easy method
- allows people autonomy by giving them responsibility
- fits well with a persons Christian faith
Weaknesses
- relativist so does not give clear rules
- difficult to apply because its not always clear what the most loving thing to do is
- relativist so could allow people to justify any action
