Situation ethics - info Flashcards
legalistic view to moral thinking
over-reliance on the rules
situational view to moral thinking
taking principles of your community and using them to ‘illuminate’ situations
knowing when to apply principle and when to recognise the exceptions
loving people not the laws
antinomian view to moral thinking
no application of laws, rules or principles
freedom to act as one sees fit in any circumstance
inspiration of situation ethics in the bible - JESUS
jesus makes love central
his first and greatest commandment - “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” Mark 22
his second commandment - “you shall live your neighbour as yourself” Mark 12
inspiration of situation ethics in the bible - ST PAUL
“and now faith, hope and love abide … and the greatest of these is love” Corinthians
fletchers response to the inspiration from the bible
- looks in NT actions of Jesus who seta side laws for the good of the people and love
“it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12 - for fletcher, situation ethics is a christian ethic that should focus on flexible message of forgiving grace founded on love rather than rigid rules
inspiration of situation ethics from people - ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM TEMPLE
Temples ethic was personalist and love centred
“There is only one ultimate duty, ‘ thou shalt love thy neighbour as theyself’ How to do this is another question, this is the whole of moral duty”
From this fletcher concluded that love regardless of context is always good and right in every situation
inspiration of situation ethics from people - RUDOLF BULTMANN
argued against idea that Jesus sought to establish some new ethical ideology. Jesus has no other ethics than ‘love thy neighbour’
inspiration of situation ethics from people - KARL BATH
argued that ‘Gods commanding’ is not a rule but applied individually to each specific example
God isn’t telling us what to do its saying look individually and apply love
inspiration of situation ethics from people - DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
the will of God in any situation is based on; needs of ones neighbour and the model of Jesus
Promoting needs of one neighbour and model of Jesus
agape
unconditional love
word was adopted by christians to refer to Jesus’ sacrificial and generous love for others
what makes unconditional love different from other types of love
love for others
doesn’t have to be returned
selfless
core of a life of faith
key measure for goodness or badness
is situation ethics a relativist theory?
NO
relativism means that there can be no universal, fletcher makes it very clear love is the one universal
particular judgements might be relative to the situation but the absolute rule of love MUST be applied
six fundamental principles
things a situationist should apply
- only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love
- ruling norm of Christian decision making is love
- love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed
- love wills the neighbours good wether he likes him or not
- only the end justifies the means, nothing else
- loves decisions re made situationally, not prescriptively
four working propositions
how situation ethics works
pragmatism - practical rather than following ideology, experience not theory
relativism - every situation is relative to christian love
positivism - love doesn’t need to be demonstrated to know its good, must have faith christian love is always there
personalism - person centred, focus on putting others first
