Situation Ethics

Question 1

Who is Joseph Fletcher

Answer 1

• founder of the theory of situation ethics

- relativist

Question 2

what are five points on situation ethics?

Answer 2

• teleological (looking at consequences), the end result is held of great importance
• relativist, all moral decisions are hypothetical
• based on love, “love they neighbour as thyself”
• reformed churches, C of E
• introduced in the 1960’s (questioning of the church, role of women)

Question 3

Explain Joseph Fletcher’s taxi cab anecdote

Answer 3

• presidential campaign
• cab driver says he is from very republican family
• friend says he too is republican, asks if he will vote for senator (…)
• cab driver says no, there are times man has to push his principles aside
• Jesus says this too

Question 4

what is situation ethics (quote)

Answer 4

“an ethic for humanity come of age” (John Robinson)

Question 5

what are the three approaches to ethics?

Answer 5

1) Legalism- the view that it is always right to obey the moral law
2) Antinomianism- the belief that there should be no laws or principles governing human behaviour
3) Situationsim- the view that what is right or wrong depends on the situation in place

Question 6

What did Fletcher believe about legalism?

Answer 6

He rejects it. If an axe-murderer demanded for you to tell the truth of the whereabouts of his next victim you should tell the truth.

Question 7

what did fletcher believe about antinomianism?

Answer 7

he rejects it. said morality should be based on christian love, which he saw as a mid-point between legalism and antinomianism, no rules that need to be obeyed.

Question 8

what does fletcher say about situationists? (quote)

Answer 8

“the situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love’s need”

Question 9

what is the idea of legalism?

Answer 9

• rules for everything
• everyone realises that rules are lacking love so use casuistry to add love into the system
• laws can be sadistic, burning at the stake of gays in middle age was supported by the Old Testament law

Question 10

what is the idea of antinomianism?

Answer 10

• no rules/laws needed
• the gnostics believed that they didn’t need laws, they would know what is right, fletcher said this was ‘intellectually irresponsible’
• others today claim some form of built-in conscience

Question 11

what is the idea of situationism?

Answer 11

• the only rule is agape love
• fletcher agrees with NML that reason is the instrument of moral judgement
• middle way between legalism and situationism, rules set aside only when love demands, decisions to be made following the guidelines of SE relative to love

Question 12

what is the basis of fletcher’s argument?

Answer 12

‘agape’ love which the bible refers to God’s love for humanity and reflects the kind of love people should have for each other. Jesus said in his greatest commandment, “you shall love…your neighbour as yourself”

Question 13

what were fletcher’s four presumptions?

Answer 13

1) Pragmatism
2) Relativism
3) Positivism
4) Personalism

Question 14

What is pragmatism?

Answer 14

• (should be practical and work in real life)
• a proposed course of action
  done out of love, what maximises love
• something that is pragmatic is something that works

Question 15

what is a quote for pragmatism?

Answer 15

Fletcher quotes from William James, “a pragmatist turns his back upon fixed principles”

Question 16

what is relativism?

Answer 16

• (morality is relative to the situation, no fixed rules)
• all situations are unique and individual so avoid using words like ‘never’
• ultimate criterion is ‘agapeic’
• only love is constant, everything else is a variable

Question 17

what is a quote for relativism?

Answer 17

Fletcher says “we are always…commanded to act lovingly, how to do it depends on our own responsible estimate of the situation”

Question 18

what is positivism?

Answer 18

• (it must put faith before reasoning – “I am a Christian, so what should I do?”)
• ‘we love, because he first loved us’- this is a faith foundation for love
• SE is a faith commitment to christian love

Question 19

what is a quote for positivism?

Answer 19

Paul said, “faith working through love”

This is the essence and pith of christian ethics.

Question 20

what is personalism?

Answer 20

• (people come before laws)
• people are to be loved, not rules, “who is to be helped” is the question
• the personal element is emphasised by the belief that god became incarnate as a person

Question 21

what is a quote for personalism?

Answer 21

“man was not made for the sabbath”

Question 22

what are fletcher’s six fundamental principles?

Answer 22

1) only one thing is intrinsically good; namely love: nothing else at all
2) the ruling norm of christian decision is love: nothing else
3) love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else.
4) love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not
5) only the end justifies the means, nothing else
6) love’s decisions are made situationally not prescriptively

Question 23

explain the principle: only one thing is intrinsically good; namely love: nothing else at all

Answer 23

• (love only is always good)
• love = goodness
• do what is most living, depends on the situation
• suicide in order to save other’s lives is acceptable

Question 24

explain the principle: the ruling norm of christian decision is love: nothing else

Answer 24

• (love is the only rule)
• love replaces law, agape love replace human law and religious law
• love can break 10 commandments if it is the most loving thing
• moving away from legalism, e.g Bonhoeffer put passivist views aside, killing hitler was the lesser of two evils

Question 25

explain the principle: love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else.

Answer 25

• (there can be no love without justice)
• justice is simply christian love ‘using its head’, use agapeic calculus to see what’s loving
• love becomes justice, justice is nothing more than love working on its problems

Question 26

explain the principle: love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not

Answer 26

• love is conative (it’s about the will), you should will yourself to promote others wellbeing
• we cannot say that we love everyone, the would be cheap hypocrisy
• Jesus and the leper, society viewed them as unlovable
• “christian love is the business of loving the unlovable”

Question 27

explain the principle: only the end justifies the means, nothing else

Answer 27

• what are the foreseeable consequences?
• what is sometimes good in one case could be bad in another, right in some cases and wrong in others
• consequence determines whether an action is right or wrong
• unless an action has an end or purpose, any action we take is meaningless.

Question 28

explain the principle: love’s decisions are made situationally not prescriptively

Answer 28

• purely based on the situation
• ethical decisions exist in a grey area, no decision to be made before considering the situation
• example: woman in Arizona that she might bear a defected baby as she had taken thalidomide. the living decision was one not given by the law that states all abortions are wrong. she travelled to Sweden where they are legal. fletcher views this as right.

Question 29

what are the advantages of situation ethics?

Answer 29

1) personalist- puts people before rules, jesus said “sabbath was made for man not man for sabbath”, Jesus put laws aside to help people
2) up to date- situationism allows you to change with the times. this includes ideas about marriage, sexuality, etc., more inclusive and less outdated than NML
3) autonomous- allows the individual to make their own decisions, Paul said christians “are not under law but under grace”, emphasis on the person (TOO MUCH FREEDOM?)
4) WWJD- it follows Jesus’ teaching, he said we should “love god and love our neighbour”, all laws hang on these two commandments, they outweigh anything else

Question 30

what are the disadvantages of situation ethics?

Answer 30

1) Rules- we are supposed to follow rules, “they weren’t called the 10 suggestions”, given for a reason, absolutist, rules given to Moses from god
2) vague- it’s impossible to say what you’re supposed to do, how do you work out what the most loving thing is if it changes from situation to situation?
3) unfair- justice requires us to follow the law, treat all equally, SE makes us create people differently, break laws in certain circumstances
4) We’re no angels- if we were all like JC this might work, Barclay believed we can’t all be trusted to do the right thing it would only work ‘if all men were angels’, only if we were christ like