SITUATION ETHICS

Question 1

Legalism

Answer 1

Basing ethics on strict rules that have to always be followed.

Rejected by Fletcher as this doesn’t take situations into account.

Question 2

Antinomianism

Answer 2

The view that there are no rules at all.

Rejected by Fletcher as this causes moral chaos.

Question 3

Situation ethics

Answer 3

The middle ground between legalism and antinomianism.

An action is good or bad depending on whether it has a loving outcome.

Question 4

Agape

Answer 4

Selfless love

Question 5

The four working principles

Answer 5

Pragmatism
Positivism
Personalism
Relativism

Question 6

Pragmatism

Answer 6

Must take the situation into account

Question 7

Positivism

Answer 7

Putting agape at the centre of ethics must be taken on faith

Question 8

Personalism

Answer 8

People are more important than rules.

Question 9

Relativism

Answer 9

An action is only right or wrong relative to agape, i.e., depending on whether it has a loving outcome.

Question 10

Namely love (6 propositions)

Answer 10

“Only one thing is intrinsically good; namely, love, nothing else”

Question 11

Ruling norm (6 propositions)

Answer 11

“The ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else”

Question 12

Justice (6 propositions)

Answer 12

“Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed”

Question 13

Neighbour (6 propositions)

Answer 13

“Love wills the neighbour good whether we like him or not”

Question 14

Ends and means (6 propositions)

Answer 14

“Only the ends justifies the means, nothing else”

Question 15

Situationally (6 propositions)

Answer 15

“Love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively”

Question 16

Conscience

Answer 16

Fletcher doesn’t think conscience is a ‘noun’ – he says it is not a thing that tells you what is good or bad.
Conscience is a verb – the process of figuring out what the loving thing to do is in a situation.

Question 17

Robinson’s support

Answer 17

Humanity has ‘come of age’, this means that humanity has become more mature since medieval times -people today are more civilised and can be trusted to think for themselves more. So autonomy is most loving.

Question 18

Barclay’s criticism

Answer 18

Situation ethics gives people a dangerous amount of freedom because people are not saints. If granted freedom to do what they want they will choose the selfish or cruel thing to do.

Question 19

Hobbes comment on the human condition

Answer 19

“The life of man; short, nasty and brutish”

Question 20

Augustine on human nature

Answer 20

We are corrupted by sin as a result of The Fall - meaning we cannot be trusted to reason correctly.

Uses St Paul “It is not I who does it, but the sin living within me”

Question 21

Fletcher’s approach to the Bible

Answer 21

To follow the bible’s foundational theme, which is love

Question 22

Traditional Christians criticism of Fletcher’s approach to the Bible

Answer 22

Fletcher’s theory is not genuine Christian ethics, because Fletcher has ignored most of the commands in the Bible, focusing only on Agape.
The Bible is full of other commands.

Question 23

Fitting with Jesus’ teachings (strength)

Answer 23

it fits with the approach to ethics taken by Jesus. Jesus overturned rules (eg Moses’ “an eye for an eye, a life for a life”), allowed the breaking of rules (eg working on the Sabbath) and said that the greatest commandment was to “love your neighbours as yourself”.

Question 24

Mouw’s criticism of relying on Jesus

Answer 24

It makes no logical sense to follow some of Jesus’ commands but not all of them. We either regard him as a source of moral authority or we don’t.

Question 25

Pope Pius XII criticism of relying on Jesus

Answer 25

Christ himself frequently spoke of the importance of following all the commandments.

Question 26

The subjectivity issue

Answer 26

Love is subjective – everyone has their own view of what is loving. Even some Nazis thought they were doing a loving thing.

Question 27

Defence of the subjectivity issue

Answer 27

Love might be subjective – but Fletcher is focused on Agape, which is more than just love. Agape is Christian selfless love of your neighbour. Jesus was very clear that everyone is your neighbour.

Question 28

Hitchen's criticism of agape

Answer 28

Agape is still subjective. loving your neighbour as yourself is only as good if the way you love yourself is good

Question 29

Bible example of Jesus' antinomianism

Answer 29

Woman commits adultery and is about to be stoned to death. She is taken to Jesus and he states that none of the Pharisees have the right to stone her because they have sinned before too. "Then neither do I condemn you, live your life free of sin"

Question 30

Fletcher quote

Answer 30

"The essence of immorality is to love things and use people"

Question 31

William Brown ship example

Answer 31

The ship hit an iceberg and sank. There were too many people on the lifeboat, so the male passengers were ordered into the sea but they refused. They were thrown into the water. Fletcher "It was bravely sinful, it was a good thing"

Question 32

Pragmatism and William James

Answer 32

Draws on James "A pragmatist turns towards concreteness and adequacy"

Question 33

Fletcher on relativism

Answer 33

"relativises the absolute, it does not absolutise the relative"

Question 34

Fletcher on personalism

Answer 34

"Love is of people, by people and for people"

Question 35

Abortion after rape example

Answer 35

Young patient at a psych ward was raped by another patient and became pregnant. After requesting an abortion she was denied as they were only permitted when the mothers life was in danger. Fletcher said this was wrong.

Question 36

Strengths of the theory

Answer 36

- It is flexible and deals with any kind of situation. - Allows for the lesser of two evils where there is conflict. - Person centered. - Love is hard to object, it means wanting the best for people.

Question 37

Sophia, Kairos and agape

Answer 37

Sophia - the laws of Christianity Kairos - the moment if decision where you decide if the Sophia is agapeic or not - agape should always be prioritised.

Question 38

Bible evidence of Jesus stating to follow all commandments.

Answer 38

"Do not think I have come to abolish the law"

Question 39

Weaknesses of the theory

Answer 39

- Might not consider the whole or long term impact of a decision. -Fletcher is highly selective of Jesus' words. -Optimistic stance on humanity.

Question 40

How can Bonhoeffer's idea of "world come of age" be applied to Situation Ethics? (This idea influenced Robinson's defence)

Answer 40

A shift in humanity which moves away from relying on traditional religious beliefs and towards autonomy and responsibility through the use of reason. People can use reason to come to the most loving action.