Situation Ethics Flashcards
“The strengths of situation ethics outweigh the weakness”
A: Outweighs as not constrained by objective rules. Designed for a modern society. Agape more freedom. Bonhoeffer humanity has come of age. Mediaeval times
CA: Barclay - too much freedom “freedom can become selfish” to come of age
E: Legalism has worse downsides - suppression of individual freedom. Jesus was against legalism. Bonhoeffer Hilter
A: Fits with the ethics of Jesus. Jesus said love thy neighbour and is the greatest commandment.
CA: Mouw - makes no sense to reduce Christian ethics to one commandment when he made other commandments as well. Pope Pius XII highlighted that Jesus acknowledged the importance of following the commandments
E: Jesus had a situational approach to ethics. Legalism fails to incorporate the nature of Jesus. Jesus is 100% God so follow.
Should ethical judgments be based on agape?
Yes:
- sums up the nature of Jesus and the most important commandment
- agape is useful in helping us know when to accept the general rules (Sophia)
- relativist principle, not as easy to manipulate as the principle of pleasure for example
No
- can be interpreted in various ways, could wrongly apply agape
- agape may be the right approach at times but most cases require us to follow conventional rules
- God directly reveals commands to us, a stress on agape ay lead religious believers away from the revelation
Is situation ethics a religious theory or not?
Yes:
- Fletcher: the golden rule of the bible
- Jesus set aside rules
- Develops from Jesus breaking laws, more consistent with the New Testament
No:
- Christianity is more legalistic: 10 commandments
- The Church have laws on S.O.L, ending a life is always wrong
- ethical decisions should be based on multiple forms of authority
- cherry picking the words of Jesus, clearly condemns adultery, divorce etc.
“in situation ethics, decision making is entirely subjective and individualistic” essay
A: No as this would imply antinomianism. Second working principle is relativism which is decision making based on the absolute laws of Christian ethics. Fletcher created situation ethics to be the mid point of legalism and antinomianism. Apply what Jesus did in the bible.
CA: some argue it does lead to antinomianism. Mc Quarrie “incapably individualistic”. Barclay -for freedom to be good, love has to be perfect, we are all selfish. Fletcher trusts people too much
E: Agape is the one ruling norm in situation ethics and is an absolute stating in the second proposition. Avoid it from being completely individualistic
A: Jesus does not use agape in an entirely individualistic way. He says “If you love me follow my commandments”. Although Jesus does break some rules does not say explicitly to not follow rules
CA: Pope Pius XII said that situation ethics takes away the objectiveness of the other commandments of the bible. e.g. 10 commandments. Moreover agape need interpretation and the concept may have a different meaning for everyone.
E: If followed correctly agape is not subjective. Through the propositions and the working principles. Fletcher prevents situation ethics from being entirely subjective and individualistic
Scholars for Sit ethics
Against:
Fletcher: guy that made situation ethics
Augustine and Barth: argue that we cannot rely on our ability to reach god decisions as we are fallen creatures and our reasoning has been affecting negatively
Bible: Jesus
Barclay & Robinson: too flexible, SE was an ethic for men that have come of age. But we have no come of age, we are ignoring God’s grace. Need rules in society.
Tilich: we need rules and moral absolutes to prevent chaos.
Bultmann: believed that Jesus had no ethics, apart from love thy neighbour as thyself.
MacQuarrie: SE is entirely individualist
Richard Mouw: should follow Jesus’ commandments
Stanford Prison Experiment: shows how humans need rules.
C.Hitchens: loving you neighbour is only good if the way you love yourself is good. To subjective
Pope Pius XII: Should not just focus on one teaching in the bible. Was in clear opposition of natural law
For:
Archbishop William Temple: love is the main duty a Christian has
Rabbi Hillel: that which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour, that is the whole Torah”
Archbishop William Temple: love is the main duty a Christian has
Rabbi Hillel: that which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour, that is the whole Torah”
- Bonhoeffer: His faith led him to plot against Hitler.
Fletcher’s situation ethics
Fletcher rejected two extremes in ethical thought:
1. Legalism: the overreliance on applying endless rigid rules. Jesus criticises this approach
2. Antinomianism: a rejection of all moral laws
The four working principles:
1. Pragmatism: something working in practise
2. Relativism: he right thing to do is dependant on the context. avoiding terms such as never and always
3. Positivism: not like natural law where we can discover human laws. Laws are the things that human beings create
4. Personalism: people-centred
The six propositions:
1. Namely love is the only intrinsic good
2. Love is the ruling norm
3. Love and Justice are the same
4. Love wills the neighbours good
5. Only the end justifies the means
6. Love’s decisions are made situationally
Case studies:
- Mrs Bergmeier: In order for her to leave of war camp she must get pregnant to see her family. She became pregnant via the guard and was returned to Germany - this was the most loving thing
- Trumans dilemma: drop an atomic bomb to end the world war
Examples of Jesus and bible using situation ethics:
- Healing on the Sabbath day
- Good Samaritan
- Defending the adulterous woman
