Situation Ethics Flashcards
What are the three general principles Fletcher saw as the main approaches to moral decision-making?
Legalism
Antinomianism
Situationism
There are two forms of legalism what are they with a definition?
Natural Moral Law:
Through obedience to laws revealed through reason and back by special revelation individuals fulfil Gods purpose for them.
Divine Command Theory:
People fulfil their lives through the teachings of Jesus and Paul and the Ten Commandments.
Issues not directly addressed in the bible, prayer enables biblical principles to be applied.
Why was Fletcher opposed to Legalism?
He saw legalism as often too inflexible to tackle modern issues
What is Antinomianism?
Each situation is unique but some Christians claim they “know” what is right or wrong guided by the holy spirit
What did Fletcher describe Situationism as?
The middle way between Legalism and Antinomianism.
What is Situationism?
An altruistic principle based on reason that accepts the bible as a source of the only absolute principle: “love thy self”
What did Fletcher accept about the church?
Fletcher accepted that the church’s wisdom based upon on long-standing principles might be useful.
What must a person do with the church’s wisdom under situation ethics?
They must consider whether taking on the church’s wisdom or rejecting it would lead to the most loving outcome
What did Fletcher not think conscience was?
He did not think it was an intuition or a feeling of shame.
What did Fletcher think conscience was?
He believed conscience is what we do, it is just guidance before a decision is made
Why was Fletcher against Antinomianism?
Fletcher saw Antinomianism as random and unprincipled, he claimed Christians who used it ignores Jesus’ Law of Love
What are Fletchers Four Presumptions?
Pragmatism
Contextual relativism
Positivism
Personalism
What is Pragmatism?
Assessing whether something works in achieving the final Telos, agape
What is Contextual Relativism
Assessing what is most loving in each situation
What is positivism?
A leap of faith in agape as it stems for belief in God.
What is Personalism?
The idea that peoples need take credence over rules
What are Fletchers Six Working Principles?
Love only is always good Love is the only norm Love and justice are the same Love is not liking Love justifies its means Loves decisions are made according to the the situation and not according to rules
What is “Love is always good”
Love isn’t something that people have or are, but something that they do
Love is the only intrinsic good while malice is the only intrinsic evil
What is “Love is the only norm”?
If love requires it, any and every law may be broken, even the Ten commandments
What is “love and justice are the same”?
Justice is simply love expressed, love must be calculated so agapeic calculus.
What is “Love is not liking”? and what quote goes with it?
Love is a selfless act that does not act for anything back, it applies even to enemies. “Hate the sin, not the sinner”
What are the four criteria under “Love justifies its means”?
- End being sought
- Means to be used
- motive behind act
- foreseeable consequences
What is “Loves decisions are made according to the situation and not according to rules”?
It is based on freedom and ‘sinning bravely’ when in moral grey areas when love is not enough and the situation must be considered
