Situation Ethics

Question 1

What is the definition of legalism?

Answer 1

Relying too heavily on laws or rules

Question 2

What is the definition of antinomianism?

Answer 2

Having no rules or laws at all

Question 3

What are the 2 unhelpful extremes in ethical thought that Fletcher believes situation ethics avoid?

Answer 3

-Legalism
-Antinomianism

Question 4

What does fletcher mean by legalism?

Answer 4

An over reliance on applying endless rigid rules. The Jewish law of the Old Testament had 613 separate rule. Jesus criticises this approach as it focuses on minor issues and misses the major ideas. He says that the pharisees have a tendency to ‘strain out a gnat but swallow a camel’. Fletcher argues, however, that later Christian thought has returned to a reliance on rules, particularly in the form of natural law

Question 5

What does Fletcher mean by antinomianism?

Answer 5

It’s literally a rejection of all moral laws (nomos means ‘law in Greek’). Twentieth century philosophy has been affected by existentialism and this has caused a rejection of moral laws and replaced them with the idea that the individual must make their own decisions

Question 6

What are the four working principles?

Answer 6

1. Pragmatism
2. Relativism
3. Positivism
4. Personalism

Question 7

What is pragmatism?

Answer 7

Pragmatism is a philosophical approach to truth based on the work of American philosophers such as William James and John Dewey. In order to count as true, something must work in practice. Likewise, Fletcher argues that theoretical solutions that don’t lead to positive outcomes are not really suspicious at all. The decision we make must be something that works and produces good outcomes

Question 8

What is relativism?

Answer 8

The right thing to do is dependent on the context. In ethics we should avoid germs like ‘always’ and ‘never’. Although the principle of love always applies-love is the reason to act- the specifics of how love applies varies between situations

Question 9

What is positivism?

Answer 9

Unlike natural law which argues that we can look into the world and effectively discover moral rules, situation ethics is based on a positivist approach to law. Laws are things that human beings create; we have to be active in bringing about love by the decisions we make

Question 10

What is personalism?

Answer 10

Unlike legalistic views , situation ethics is people-centred. Jesus placed people above rules-consider the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). The key to good ethics is to place the good of people at the centre, rather than obedience to rules

Question 11

What are the six propositions?

Answer 11

1. ‘Only one thing is intrinsically food, namely love: nothing else at all’
2. ‘The ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else’
3. ‘Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else’
4. ‘Love wills the neighbour good, whether we like him or not’
5. ‘Only the end justifies the means, nothing else’
6. ‘Love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively’

Question 12

What 4 words does the Greek language have for love?

Answer 12

-Storge: love based on family connections
-Philia: Close friendship
-Eros: A sexual love (from which we get the word erotic)
-Agape: Charity, unconditional love

Question 13

Reasons why situation ethics may be seen as a helpful way of making moral decisions?

Answer 13

-A key attraction of situation ethics, as with all relativistic theories, is it’s flexibility. It is able to deal with exceptional situations, hence avoiding the legalism that some versions of natural law may lead us to. It enables people to keep the spirit of the law without being obsessed with the letter of the law.
-Situation ethics enables a decision to be made in each situation. Absolutist theories can struggle with difficult situations where there are two conflicting duties. Situation ethics enables us to choose the lesser of two evils.
-Situation ethics is person-centred and as such seems closer to the teachings of Jesus, who consistently put people above rules
-Love as a principle is hard to object to. If we love others, we will want the best for them. This seems more compassionate than some versions of utilitarianism, which just focus on pleasure and pain.

Question 14

Reasons why situation ethics may be seen as an unhelpful way of making moral decisions?

Answer 14

-Situation ethics faces the difficulty that, as a relativist theory, it is vague; the suggestion that we should do the most loving thing is not particularly specific or clear
-There are no moral boundaries. Everything could be permitted if the situation was extreme enough. This does not seem right. Some things-for example rape or genocide- are just inherently wrong and no circumstances could ever make them right
-Situation ethics as a teleological theory requires that we are able to make predictions about the outcome that our actions will produce. Yet we do not always know whether what we have done will produce the most loving outcome
-Similarly, it may be difficult to decide where a situation begins and ends. My decision to take a life to save others may be a good short term solution, but may set in motion a chain of events and revenge that lasts for generations. How much am I responsible for at the moment of decision?

Question 15

What is a key quote about agape?

Answer 15

“The most important one”, answered Jesus, “is this: … ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. There is no commandement greater than these.”

Question 16

How do we apply love situationally?

Answer 16

-Fletcher sees situation ethics as a midpoint between the two errors of legalism and antinomianism.
-For fletcher, love is the ultimate law. We may have some general principles, which Fletcher calls Sophia (the Greek word for wisdom), but love may mean that we break these
-Fletcher also places importance on the time and situations he uses the word Kairos, one of the two Greek words for time, to refer to a significant time or season.
-In ethics, kairos is the ‘moment or decision’. When applying low, we should consider the Sophia and the kairos, and ask how love can be applied in that specific situation

Question 17

What are the two case studies that Fletcher uses?

Answer 17

Case 1- Acceptable abortion
Case 2- Truman’s dilemma

Question 18

What happens in case 1 ‘acceptable abortion’?

Answer 18

-In 1962, a young girl with schizophrenia was raped in a psychiatric hospital by a fellow patient. The victims father charged the hospital with negligence and asked than an abortion be carried out to prevent the unwanted pregnancy
-However, abortion was illegal in America at this time so the hospital staff refused, as abortion could only take place if the girl’s life was in danger. Fletcher argues that this was the wrong decision and that a situationist approach would almost certainly support abortion in this cas as the most loving thing

Question 19

What happened in case 2 ‘Truman’s dilemma’?

Answer 19

-During the Second World War, in August 1945, American aircraft dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least 150,000 people were killed and many more would go on to die from radiation burns or related conditions in the years that followed.
-Japan surrendered a few days later. The new Us president, Harry Truman, had only learned of the technology that was available a few months previously , on his inauguration.
-Truman’s inner circle of scientists and military advisers was split on whether it was right to use the atomic bomb to bring the war in Japan to an end.
-Several advisers pointed out that Japanese leaders were blind to the possibility of defeat and that ‘honour’ meant they were likely to continue to fight for years, leading to the possible loss of millions of lives
-Others felt that a demonstration on a nearby uninhabited island would be a better strategy
-It was left to Truman to make the final decision

Question 20

Reasons why ethical judgments should be based on agape?

Answer 20

-For a religious thinker, agape is an excellent principle and, according to Jesus, sums up the most important commandments
-The principle of agape is useful in helping us know when to accept the general rules (Sophia) and when to break them. It is flexible to different situations
-Agape is a relativist principle but, unlike the pleasure principle of utilitarianism, it does not seem as easy to manipulate. For instance, it is harder to argue that murder or racism can be a loving act even though in extreme circumstances this may bring pleasure to an evil majority

Question 21

Reasons why ethical judgements should not be based on agape?

Answer 21

-The concept of love represented by agape can be interpreted in various ways. It may for some conjure up charity and compassion, but for others represent a dispassionate wanting of good for others. As such, both the concept and the application to individual situations can produce different results
-One difficulty with agape and the idea of situation ethics in general is that it seems set up to deal with exceptional or difficult cases. But lawyers and philosophers often argue that hard cases make bad laws. Agape may be the right approach at times, but most cases require us to follow the conventional rules
-There may be better principles upon which to base ethics. They may involve pleasure, duty or purpose according to other ethical theories in the specification. Additionally, a religious believer may argue that God directly reveals commands and that a stress on agape may lead a believer away from the revelation

Question 22

Key quote from Paul about agape in Christian tradition?

Answer 22

‘If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing… and now these three remain:Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love’ (Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:3,13)

Question 23

Key quote from John about agape in Christian tradition?

Answer 23

‘Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.’ (1 John 2:9-10)

Question 24

Reasons why situation ethics is to be seen as a religious ethical theory?

Answer 24

-The ethic is very clearly located in the words of Jesus, who, when asked to sum up the whole of the Jewish law, suggested that only 2 commands are needed: ‘Love God’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself’
-Jesus’ attitudes to the pharisees (the religious scholars) in the New Testament shows a clear opposition to the legalism of his day. A good religious ethic does not have to be based on hard and fast rules
-The idea that love is the key evidence of genuine religious faith is found in the words of Jesus: By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:34-35) and in the teachings of Augustine

Question 25

Reasons why situation ethics should not really be seen as a religious ethical theory?

Answer 25

-Situation ethics has been rejected by the established church. It was condemned at the time of Fletcher’s writing by Pope Pous XII. It was in clear opposition to natural law on a number of key issues
-It can be argued that Fletcher’s reading or the words of Jesus is highly selective. Jesus quite clearly condemns divorce and adultery, and speaks about hell far more than he speaks about heaven
-Jesus tells his disciples that if they love him they are to obey his commandments- that implies that there are commandments other than love

Question 26

What is the role of the individual in situation ethics?

Answer 26

-Fletcher rejects both legalism and antonoianism in favour of the one overriding ethical principle of agape, that in each situation we are required to do whatever brings about the most loving outcome
-In doing so, he places emphasis on the individual to make the decision. There is no need to consult external authorities; the person in the situation has the moment of decision.
-This may lead to the concern that the theory becomes very subjective, as what is most loving is a matter of personal opinion

Question 27

What is believed about conscience in Situation ethics?

Answer 27

-Fletcher’s remarks on conscience shed some light on the idea of individualism at the heart of this theory
-Fletcher argues that traditional understandings of the conscience are mistaken. Conscience is often seen as a thing.
-This May be either the voice of God within us according to Catholic J.H Newman, or an inbuilt reasoning tool in the thinking of Aquinas
-Yet conscience is not a thing that we possess, it is rather an activity that we do. It is a function not a faculty. Conscience is a verb not a noun and it refers to the process of deciding
-It is best understood as something that looks forwards in terms of prospective decision making rather than something that retrospectively passes judgement on our actions after the event
-Fletcher cites Paul’s reference to the conscience in the New Testament in support of this and states that conscience is a director (before and during the event) not a reviewer (after the event)
-For Fletcher, every individual and situation is unique. Hence the Christian, after prayerful consideration, has to decide how to apply love
-Any moral principles they have must be kept in check-these principles are guides and advisers but do not have the final word
-This process of thoughtful decision making is the process of ‘conscience-ing’

Question 28

Reasons why it can be argued that situation ethics is not too individualistic and subjective?

Answer 28

-Rather than relying on external authorities, situation ethics gives responsibility and autonomy in moral decision making. This situation ethics treats individuals as adults
-Situations and contexts do differ greatly and it is important that flexibility is retained. Situation ethics recognises that what is right for one person in a specific situation may not suit other people who are faced with a slightly different situation

Question 29

Reasons why it can be argued that situation ethics is too individualistic and subjective?

Answer 29

-The emphasis on individual decision making means that this could never be an ethic that could be applied in a society, as views of love differ
-Other thinkers who have used love as the basis of decision making have continued to recognise the importance of community for ethical decision making. For instance, Bonhoeffer’s community at Finkenwalde made decisions based on communal Bible reading, prayer and conversation. They recognised the importance of other people in discerning the right course of action
-Situation ethics may be overly optimistic about our capacity to reason clearly and reach moral decisions. Psychologists refer to the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance, which makes it difficult for us to accept evidence that goes against a deeply held belief. Theologians such as Augustine and Barth would also be cautious about our ability to reach good decisions, as humans are fallen creatures and this affects our reasoning