Situation ethics

Question 1

What is situation ethics?

Answer 1

liberal Christian theory
argues that central concern of ethics should be agape or selfless love - main message of Jesus.
Fletcher believed that we should follow the rules until we need to break them for reasons of love.

Question 2

Key quote - Fletcher

Answer 2

“The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else” - Joseph Fletcher

Question 3

What are the four working presuppositions of situation ethics?

Answer 3

1. Pragmatism (it has to work in daily life - it must be practical)
2. Relativism (there should be no fixed rules)
3. Positivism (it must put faith before reasoning – “I am a Christian, so what should I do?”)
4. Personalism (people should be at the centre of the theory)

Question 4

What are the six fundamental principles?

Answer 4

1. Love is the only absolute (it is intrinsically good)
2. Christian decision making is based on love
3. Justice is love distributed
4. Love wants the good for anyone, whoever they are
5. Only the end justifies the means
6. Love is acted out situationally not prescriptively

Question 5

What did JAT Robinson argue in ‘honest to God’ ?

Answer 5

Argued that we should stop thinking about God as a remote, transcendent being but instead see God as part of our lives and ground of our being.

Question 6

What was JAT Robinsons aim?

Answer 6

Aim was to demythologise God and make religious arguments fit with modern science within the spirit of the Bible.

Question 7

What is Agape?

Answer 7

Greek word - agape (greatest love)
Love that is selfless + unconditional
Different from romantic love (eros) & love for family (philia)
Its an attitude towards others instead of feeling.
We should show agape love to enemies
Implies total commitment - doesn’t change
For Robinson - agape is the only moral law we should follow.

Question 8

What is Fletcher’s situationism?

Answer 8

Fletcher agrees with Robinson that Jesus’ approach to ethics is situationist.
Argues that situation ethics lies in between legalism and antinomianism.

Question 9

What is legalism?

Answer 9

Refers to prefabricated moral rules, codes & regulation

Divine command theory = legalism

Question 10

What is the problem with legalism?

Answer 10

Fletcher’s main problem = too inflexible & rules are too general, e.g. commandment not to kill is absolute - what if we need to kill in war, self-defence.
For Fletcher, both Catholic/Protestant are guilty of obeying religious rules at expense of what truly matters - which is agape love.

Question 11

What is antinomianism?

Answer 11

Completely relativistic theory of ethics
There should be no rules whatsoever
Every situation is unique - we should do what feels right at the time,
There is no duty or requirement to be consistent - no principles to follow.

Question 12

How does situation ethics stand in the middle of legalism and antinomianism?

Answer 12

It rejects the absolutism of legalism but also unprincipled relativism of antinomianism.
More concerned with love than with rules.
We should not obey rules for their own sake
Love itself is a law - values individual freedom

Question 13

What does Fletcher argue about love and justice?

Answer 13

Argues that love and justice are the same
Love is self-giving and overrides all laws
Justice follows from love and love put into practice can only result in justice.
There can be no love without justice
Injustices (child starving) - lack of love
Justice is love distributed

Question 14

What are two case studies that Fletcher gives?

Answer 14

1) A married German woman with 3 children can only be released from a Soviet Camp if she’s pregnant. She asks a camp guard to make her pregnant, her family welcome her home, is it moral to christen the baby.
2) A terminally ill man with six months to live can opt for a treatment to live for maybe 3 years - his insurance expires following October, if he accepts, his family will be left in dire straits when he eventually dies. Should he accept this treatment?

Question 15

Strengths of situation ethics

Answer 15

• Its a strong theory - combines positives of deontological thinking (relating to duty) with agape love with consequentialist thinking
• Its a simple, effective and practical theory
• It gives us moral responsibility - we are moral agents in charge of our own moral decisions.
• Its consistent with the overall message of the NT but at the same time compatible with a secular, liberal way of thinking about ethics.

Question 16

William Barclay’s criticisms of situation ethics

Answer 16

• William Barclay criticises SE as it gives humans too much freedom in their moral-decision making - freedom we don’t actually want.
• People don’t actually know what to do & moral guidelines are vital to our decision-making.
• Main issue - with no clear moral absolutes to base our decisions on - we could justify immoral actions.

Question 17

Is situation ethics compatible with religion?

Answer 17

SE has been rejected by the Roman Catholic Church - doesn’t accurately reflect NT views on morality
Roman Catholic leaders have argued that situation ethics is too individualistic to reflect teachings of Bible.