Situation Ethics Flashcards
(43 cards)
Why is situation ethics a product of its time?
The 60s were defined by radical social movements aimed at overthrowing traditional ways of life which were seen as oppressive.
What is Joseph Fletchers approach?
He rejected the traditional approach to Christian ethics of strict adherence to moral laws. Instead he attempted a reduction of Christian ethics to what many would agree is the overarching theme of Jesus’ ethics: love.
What is legalism?
People require fixed rules to follow, without taking the situation into account, yet providing clear guidance.
What is antinomianism?
There are no rules or laws to follow at all, leading to moral chaos, yet taking the situation into account.
How is Situation ethics a middle ground between legalism and antinomianism?
Avoids the problems of each extreme while retaining the benefit of each. It does this by claiming that love is the one single absolute principle which should be applied to all situations.
What is agape?
It is drawn from Jesus saying that the ‘greatest commandment’ is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.
What are the four working principles: relativism?
Fletcher claimed his theory “relativizes the absolute, it does not absolutize the relative”. Relativizing the absolute means that absolutes like “Do not kill” become relative to love.
What are the four working principle: pragmatism?
An action must be calibrated to the reality of the situation.
What are the four working principles: personalism?
Situation ethics puts people above rules. As Jesus said “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”.
What are the four working principles: positivism?
Fletcher thought ethics had to begin with faith in love because no rational answer can be given for why someone shouldn’t love as it is a matter of faith in Jesus’ command to love your neighbour as yourself.
What does ‘only love is intrinsically good’, mean?
Everything else has conditional value depending on whether it helps or hurts people, but love is always unconditionally and therefore intrinsically good.
What does ‘the ruling norm of Christian decision is love; nothing else’, mean?
The centre of Christianity is the principle of love. In the New Testament, Jesus laces the Old Testament laws with the principle of love, where love and law conflict, we must always choose love
What does ‘love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else’, mean?
Fletcher thought that maximising agape is the only ethical goal. Many think that justice is an ethical goal, so Fletcher here is explaining that justice actually reduces to love.
What does ‘love wills the neighbour’s good whether we like him or not’, mean?
Jesus called on us to love our neighbour no matter who they are, which includes people we don’t like. Love is an attitude, not a feeling, we are dealing with agape not Eros. This is illustrated in the Good Samaritan, by which agape love is selfless and is not reciprocal or sentimental.
What does ‘only the end justifies the means; nothing else’, mean?
The is Fletcher’s consequentialism. If the consequence of an action is the most loving possible then it is good, it doesn’t matter what the action is.
What does ‘love decides there and then’, mean?
When we are faced with a moral choice we have to decide there and then in that situation. One particular issue is sexual ethics where he argues that Christianity has become overly obsessed with rules at the expense of deciding on a situation basis.
How does Fletcher’s view on conscience differ from other theories?
He disagreed with the traditional view that conscience is an internal moral compass or mental ability to intuitively know what is right or wrong.
How was Fletcher and Robinson influenced by Bonhoeffer?
Humanity has ‘come of age’, meaning become more mature. Now people are more civilised, to the point that granting them more autonomy will increase love without risking the stability of society.
How does William Barclay disagree with Fletcher and Robinson on humanity’s coming of age?
He argues that situation ethics gives moral agents a dangerous amount of freedom, ‘freedom can become selfishness and even cruelty’. If everyone was a saint, then situation ethics would be perfect. Barclay argues mankind has not yet come of age and so ‘still needs the crutch and protection of law’.
How does legalism have worse downsides in comparison to situation ethics?
Some would abuse the autonomy situation ethics grants them. However, that is arguably not as bad compared with the dangers of legalistic morality, which is inflexible and outdated. Eg, euthanaisa.
How is freedom corrupting?
Relevant is psychology like the Stanford prison experiment. It is a well-known feature of human psychology that power is corrupting. The freedom to decide what is good or bad without external supervision of legalistic laws grants humans more power and thereby corrupts them.
What is a strength to Fletcher making the Bible more liberal?
The bible is difficult to interpret, or know the right interpretation. They could interpret the Bible or take it literally, but it is impossible to know which interpretation is correct.
Why should the Bible not be taken as a ‘legalistic rule book’?
This makes Fletcher’s approach to the Bible an example of the liberal view of inspiration; that the Bible is not the perfect word of God. So, although the Bible states that many things are wrong, Fletcher doesn’t think a Christian should view those as unbreakable rules.
What is a weakness to Fletcher centering the Bible around love?
It is not the only element of Biblical Christian ethics. Fletcher faces the criticism that his theory cannot be considered properly Christian, since it seems to only follow the command to love, ignoring most of the teachings in the Bible.
