Situation Ethics essays

Question 1

What is essay 1 ?

Answer 1

“Fletcher’s four working principles should be applied to all moral actions” – Discuss.

Question 2

what is your view essay 1 ?

Answer 2

they should be applied to all moral decisions

Question 3

what is the intro essay 1 ?

Answer 3

four working principles = positivism, personalism, relativism, pragmatism.
Joseph Flecther , SE

Question 4

what are the scholars essay 1 ?

Question 5

point para 1 essay 1 ?

Answer 5

Pragmatism and Relativism

Pragmatism = Moral demands should be practical and achieve the intended outcome or result, which is love.

Fletcher uses the 6 fundamental propositions to give a pragmatic basis for situation ethics.

Universal - anyone can follow them. and helps most amount of people. - link to Utilitarianism.

Relativism = All situations should be assessed on how nest to demonstrate love, rather than through following moral laws which use the words ‘never’ and ‘always’.

Absolutist theories struggle when there are two conflicting duties , so SE is good cos we can look at the facts of each individual situation.

We can look at the facts of the situation. ‘Love decisions to be made situationally not prescriptively’.

Question 6

Counterargument para 1 essay 1 ?

Answer 6

Laws are needed in society to protect us and in order for it to function. Laws are needed because some things are just inherently wrong and aren’t even worth a discussion.

William Barclay = ‘Terrifying degree of freedom’ Believes if there are no laws - life gets dangerous.

Negatives of teleological - it focuses on outcome over action - don’t know what the outcome will be for certain

No moral boundaries.

Question 7

counteract counterargument para 1 essay 1 ?

Answer 7

doesn’t fully disregard laws , just uses them as a useful tool instead.

Creates a more peaceful society as majority are happy. Usually provides best outcome for most people - link to Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham.

Question 8

point para 2 essay 1 ?

Answer 8

Positivism and Personalism

Positivism = Being able to say that ‘God is love’ on the basis of faith , not reason or human experience. The moral agent has to decide, through their faith in God, that love is the most important thing of all.

Jesus was a good role model as he showed that love was the most important commandment. ‘Love one another’ - we always need to do the most loving thing based on Jesus’ teachings.

‘A new commandment I give you: love on another. As I have loved you’ - Jesus shows that love is the most important thing. - therefore should be the forefront of ethical decision making.

Personalism = Demands that the needs and importance of people are considered first, not the demands of moral laws.

Flexible - gives personal freedom - we can make the decision ourselves.

Question 9

counterargument para 2 essay 1 ?

Answer 9

Love could mean two things for two different people - how do you remove bias. Unanimous decision Humans are not perfect and can make mistakes in judgement.

Difficult to know where the situation begins and ends - how much moral responsibility do we have after the decision has been made.

Who is given the power to make the decision - two sides to every story - so could cause conflict

Question 10

counterargue counterargument para 2 essay 1 ?

Answer 10

Many of us already have the values of making loving decisions. So its universal - link to Kantian Ethics. Anyone can follow this rules , personalism

Question 11

what is essay 2 ?

Answer 11

Assess the view that the approach taken by Fletchers situation ethics makes moral decision making entirely individualistic and subjective.

Question 12

what is ur view essay 2 ?

Answer 12

it is entirely indiviualistic and subjective

Question 13

what is the intro essay 2 /.

Answer 13

Situation ethics is….

Question 14

scholars essay 2 ?

Question 15

point para 1 essay 2

Answer 15

Fletcher - 6 propositions and 4 working principles

John Macquarrie in his book (Three issues in Ethics 2012)- SE if fundamentally and increduality individualist

Doesnt consider the community/society - so wont work

One of the 4 working principles - personalism - therefore needs of community are not met

Question 16

counterargument para 1 essay 2

Answer 16

Good to be individualistic cos SE gives moral responsiblities and autonomy in moral decision making. Thus SE treats individuals as adults.

4 working principles - hood because they provide a clear and coherent framework to use.

Allows for life to happen and for us to make our own decisions according to the situation and enforces authority.

Question 17

counterargue counterargument para 1 essay 2 ?

Answer 17

2nd of 6 principles - emphasises the individualistic and subjective approach.

Love is the ruling norm in moral decison making and as such it replaces all laws

Question 18

point para 2 essay 2 ?

Answer 18

ery subjective too.

People are concerned with their own interests

• concept of love is subjective - varied from var

ies

Agape is also leads to individualistic and subjective, - not well defined , means nothing more than wanting the best for the person involved in a given situation

Question 19

counterargument para 2 essay 2 ?

Answer 19

Whilst, the concept of agape may not be defined explicity, Flecther gives a sound enough explanation of the term in the propositions and working principles.

FLECTHER - underatsnign of conscience as a verb , describing attempts to make decisions creatively , cannot result in moral decision making.

Question 20

couterargue counterargument para 2 essay

Answer 20

We suffer from weaknesses of conscience .

William Barclay - ‘we need the compulsion law to mkae him ( a man) do it (act morally in any situation). ‘

Also - Last of 6 propositions - emphasises the individualistic and subjective approach - bcos it states that love decided on situation without a set of laws too guide it,

Question 21

what is essay 3

Answer 21

Is Flecther’s understanding of agape religious ?

Question 22

ur view essay 3 ?

Answer 22

its religious

Question 23

what is the intro essay 3 ?

Answer 23

Agape = unconditional love , greatest type of love because it exists regardless of circumstances

Question 24

what are the scholars essay 3 ?

Question 25

point para 1 essay 3 ?

Answer 25

Main commandment of Jesus is love. Located in the words of him, He uses agape in his life- heal s individuals with leprosy , instead of considering following religious teaching that lepers are unclean, but he did the most loving thing.

‘Love your neighbour as yourself ‘

‘ A new command I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you’

Question 26

counterargue para 1 essay 3 ?

Answer 26

Jesus had other commandments

Richard Mouw - makes no sense to reduce Christian ethics to only one of Jesus commands , when he made other ones too (give examples).

Question 27

counterargue counterargument para 1 essay 3 ?

Answer 27

love is the key evidence of genuine religious faith - ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another’

Question 28

point para 2 essay 3 ?

Answer 28

Jesus shows a clear opposition a legalism - broke the sabbath to heal people.

He ignored authority to do the most loving thing.

Question 29

counterargue para 2 essay 3 ?

Answer 29

hwo can it be religious if it is rejected by the established church - condemned by Pope Pius XII - cos its a clear opposition of Natural Law.

Question 30

counterargue counterargument para 2 essay 3 ?

Question 31

what is essay 4 ?

Answer 31

Is Fletcher’s theory of Situation Ethics useful in moral decision making ?

Question 32

whats ur view essay 4 ?

Answer 32

useful

Question 33

what is intro essay 4 ?

Answer 33

SE is a form of consequentialism that focuses on creating the most loving outcome.

Based around christian value of agape

Developed by Joseph Fletcher

Question 34

what are the scholars essay 4 ?

Question 35

point para 1 essay 4 ?

Answer 35

4 working principles - relativism, pragmatism, personalism, positivism

Relativism = Actions are good or bad relative to the situation.

Pragmatism = Acting practically in moral situations

Personalism = Ethics centred around people rather than laws

Positivism = Proposes something as true or good without demonstrating it,

6 Fundamental propositions - to give a pragmatic basis for situation ethics.

‘Only one thing is intrinsically good ; namely love: nothing else at all’ = The only thing that is good in itself , is love. Its not instrumentally good.

‘The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else’ = More important to follow love than the law.

‘Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed , nothing else’ = love and justice are the same because justice is giving a man what he is owed, and man is owed love . Justice helps us to decide how to distribute and apply love between different people.

‘Love wills the nighbour’s good , whether we like him or not’ = Love should be shown regardless of whether you like the other person or not. We need to have the right attitude to one another.

‘Only the end justifies the means , nothing else’ = If love is the outcome of one’s actions , then the means or actions taken to achieve this are not morally significant. It’s only the outcome that matters.

‘Loves decisions are made situationally , not prescriptively’ = Decisions must be made then and there in the situation so that specific factors can be taken into account.

SE sums up Jesus’ main commandments.

‘Love the lord with all your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’

‘Love your neighbour as yourself’

Jesus broke the Sabbath in order to heal a blind man - which shows that rules can be broken if it means lesser of two evils will be achieved.

Question 36

counterargue para 1 essay 4 ?

Answer 36

Love could mean two things for two different people - how do you remove bias. Unanimous decision Humans are not perfect and can make mistakes in judgement.

BARCLAY = ‘If all men were saints , then SE would be the perfect ethics’

Also goes against Christian things such as Ten Commandments - these are absolutist. ‘Do not kill’.

Question 37

counterargue counterargument para 1 essay 4 ?

Answer 37

Many of us already have the values of making loving decisions. So its unversal - link to Kantian Ethics. Anyone can follow this rules , personalism

Question 38

point para 2 essay 4 ?

Answer 38

Joseph Fletcher created them in the Book ‘Situation Ethics: The New Morality’ (1966).

Flexible.

Gives personal freedom - personalism - we make the decision, in control. Enables people to still use the laws however we are not obsessed with them.

Absolutist theories struggle when there are two conflicting duties , so SE is good cos we can look at the facts of each individual situation.

We can choose the lesser of two evils.

Question 39

counterargue para 2 essay 4 ?

Answer 39

The whole point of laws is to protect society and help it to function. If we didn’t need them why were they invented. Some things are just inherently wrong so that is why laws exist.

William Barclay = ‘Terrifying degree of freedom’ Believes if there are no laws - life gets dangerous.

How do you remove bias - it is human nature to pick family over strangers in a situation,

Difficult to know where a situation begins and ends so where do we stop looking at the facts. How much are you responsible for when making that decision - chain reaction.

Question 40

counterargue counterargument para 2 essay 4 ?

Answer 40

It doesn’t completely reject laws - its sees them as useful tools.

Creates a more peaceful society as majority are happy. Usually provides best outcome for most people - link to Utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham.