Theme 3 (Teleological Ethics) Flashcards
What is situation ethics?
+ who made it famous?
A relativist theory of ethics
+ Joseph Fletcher
What is the background to situation ethics?
+ what did J.A.T Robinson release?
Came about in 1960s after a series of significant worldwide events.
- post war generation threw off the shackles of authority & law
- Church facing drastic changes
- reliable contraception available
+ a highly controversial book
How does the Parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrate agape?
- good nature & good will
- generosity
- freely given
- unconditional
- helping others regardless of what they might think of you
What are the 3 types of ethical theory?
Legalist ethics
Antinomian ethics
Situation ethics
What is Legalist Ethics?
+ what does Fletcher say about it (+ quote)?
- set of prefabricated moral rules and regulations (e.g 10 Commandments and Natural Law for Christians)
+ when there are lots of laws for one thing it becomes unclear what to do
“puritanical choking web of laws”
+ rejects it and says it needs more flexibility
What is Antinomian Ethics?
+ what does Fletcher think of it (+ quote)?
- doesn’t really use an ethical system at all (anarchist)
- making a more decision is spontaneous
- enters decision- making as of each occasion is totally unique
+ critical of it as it’s in unprincipled
“ unprincipled, purely ad hoc and casual”
What is Situation Ethics?
+ what does Fletcher say about it (+ quote)?
- situationist is prepared to set aside moral rules if they believe it will create a loving situation
- all moral decisions are hypothetical
- lying is justified if love is better served by it
+ “The situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love’s need”
Quotes which Fletcher uses to support Situation Ethics?
“love your neighbour as yourself”
“The one who had mercy on him”
"”if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing”
“faith, hope and love… but the greatest of these is love”
“love is patient, love is kind”
“love one another”
What are the 4 Presuppositions?
Pragmatism
Relativism
Theological Positivism
Personalism
What is pragmatism?
+ what is relativism?
- decision made must be practical and work in each situation
- love is the overriding principle
- Church teaching rejected if not practical
+ decision based on the situation. Different outcomes every time
+ love is applied differently in each situation
What is theological positivism?
+ what is personalism?
- Faith is accepted on a voluntary basis
- Agape can be accepted by anyone
- People should act in a way which follows their belief
+ ethics cannot be separate from people
+ people are more sacred than rules
+ love as primary standard
4 Presupposition Quotes
“ love relativises the absolute” (Fletcher)
“Faith working through love”
“We love because he first loved us”
“Treat people as ends, never as a means to an end” (Kant)
What are Fletcher’s 6 Fundamentals?
1) “Only one thing is intrinsically good;namely love:nothing else at all”
2) “the ultimate norm of Christian decisions is love:nothing else”
3) “love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else”
4) “love wills the neighbour’s good, whether we like him or not”
5) “only the end justifies the means, nothing else”
6) “loves decisions are made situationally;not prescriptively”
What do Fletcher’s First 3 Fundamentals mean?
1) actions are evil/good depending on how much love they produce in their circumstance
2) the commandments are not absolute
3) agape means standing up for justice and representing the oppressed
What do Fletcher’s Second 3 Fundamentals mean?
+ what does number 4 link to?
4) selfless, unconditional love should be shown towards others (+link to karma & apparent/real goods)
5) consider every action in light of its consequences (end must be a loving result)
6) whether something is right or wrong is dependent on the individual situation
Demands of situation over-ride deontological rules
