Situation ethics

Question 1

What is important about situation ethics coming about in the 1960s?

Answer 1

It was a time of great social and political change, with people questioning the old ways, there was the Vietnam war, the assassination of Martin Luther King and the sexual revolution which saw the legalization of contraception in 1965 and abortion in 1973.

Question 2

Why was the church concerned about the progress in the 1960s?

Answer 2

They were worried it would lead to moral degradation, they felt that teenagers needed guidance concerning sexual relationships at a time when they were gaining more freedom, family ties were weakening and religion was having less influence.

Question 3

Give three features of J.A.T Robinson’s situation ethics

Answer 3

1. We should stop seeing god as transcendent, instead seeing him as part of our lives. 2. Religion needed to change its view on ethics to keep up with society. 3. Humans had come of age and were ready to make their own moral decisions.

Question 4

What did Robinson think was the true message of the New Testament?

Answer 4

One of compassion and love “you shall love the lord thy god with all your heart and with all your soul.” He pointed out that in Matthew, Jesus condemned the Pharisees for basing moral principles on the Torah and argued for a situationist approach.

Question 5

What are the four types of love?

Answer 5

Eros- romantic love. Philia- familial love. Storge- love for one’s friends. Agape- selfless and unconditional love.

Question 6

What does Robinson put at the center of his ethical theory?

Answer 6

Agape love, it is the only moral law we should follow and should consider situations on a case by case basis and always do the most loving thing. He used the example of divorce.

Question 7

What did Fletcher do to Robinson’s situation ethics?

Answer 7

In light of questions such as “how do I know what the most loving thing is?” He aimed to make it more philosophically sound and systematic.

Question 8

What is legalism, according to fletcher?

Answer 8

The ethics of binding rules and laws, such as natural law theory. It is too inflexible and does not take into account individual situations. It obeys moral principles and ignores what truly matters- love.

Question 9

What is antinomianism?

Answer 9

The idea that there are no rules and all situations should be judged individually. This can lead to anarchy and chaos and is impractical.

Question 10

What is relativism?

Answer 10

A middle way between the chaos of antinomianism and strictness of legalism. It is concerned with love, not rules, all situations are different and sometimes we need to put aside rules and do the most loving thing.

Question 11

What are fletcher’s thoughts on love and justice?

Answer 11

He thinks that they are the same. There can be no love without justice and if love was properly shared out, there would be no injustice. Justice is love distributed and there are no absolute laws save for the law of agape love.

Question 12

What are the four working presuppositions?

Answer 12

1. Pragmatism- it has to be based on experience, not theory. 2. Personalism- people must come before rules and laws. 3. Relativism- it must be a middle way between antinomianism and legalism. 4. Positivism- making a decision must be about wanting to do the right thing.

Question 13

What are the six fundamental principles?

Answer 13

1. Love overrides all laws. 2. Love is the only ruling norm. 3. Love wills the neighbor good wether we like him or not. 4. Love and justice are the same. 5. Love is the end, not the means to an end. 6. The most loving thing is relative to the situation.

Question 14

What are fletcher’s four case studies to show how situation ethics thinks about morality?

Answer 14

1. President Truman about to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, kill thousands to end to war. 2. An ill man with six months to live whose life insurance runs out in 9 months, does his accept treatment that could prolong his life by a year? 3. A woman in a POW camp who asks a guard to make her pregnant so she can be released, can the baby morally be christened? 4. A woman working as a spy who is asked to have an affair with a married man to get information, how does she balance her sexual integrity with her sense of duty?

Question 15

Give three positives of situations ethics

Answer 15

1. It gives us moral responsibility. 2. It is consistent with the New Testament and teachings of Jesus. 3. It combines the positives of deontological thinking with consequentialism, it is practical, simple, flexible and avoids justifying immoral actions.

Question 16

Give five criticisms of situation ethics put forward by William Barclay in ‘ethics in a permissive society.’

Answer 16

1. Fletcher’s case studies are too far fetched and situation ethics does not work with everyday morality. 2. It gives human beings too much responsibility, it would work if “all men were saints”, but humanity has not yet come of age as the 20th century was the bloodiest on record! 3. It gives us no absolutes to base our decisions on, so could be used to justify anything. 4. Some things are just inherently wrong and situation ethics ignores this. 5. It forgets that because of god’s grace, we can overcome desires and avoid breaking moral laws.

Question 17

What was the wolfenden report and what was its outcome?

Answer 17

A 1957 repot that recommended the decriminalization of homosexuality. It led to a debate between professor Hart (who supported it and used the harm principle to argue that homosexuality was a self regarding action which did no harm to society) and Judge Devlin (there is no such thing as private morality and homosexuality threatens societal norms.) Devlin won and homosexuality was not legalized until 1967.

Question 18

What are Barclay’s views on public and private morality?

Answer 18

As a conservative Christian thinker, he does not believe in private morality, no man is an island and we are never completely free as we are determined by our upbringing, genes, prior decisions we have made and our environment.

Question 19

How can situation ethics be seen as compatible with religion?

Answer 19

It follows the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. Jesus healed a man on the sabbath and said that love was the most important commandment.

Question 20

How can situation ethics be seen as incompatible with religious beliefs?

Answer 20

It has been rejected by the Roman Catholic Church as it ignores key moral laws put forward in the Bible. It was condemned by pope pious XII in 1952 as too individualistic.