"critically asses wether situation ethics is a good system for making moral decisions"

Question 1

define agape

Answer 1

unconditional love which Joseph Fletcher argues should be the guiding principle in decision making.

Question 2

what are the four working principles and the definitions of them

Answer 2

pragmatism=
based on experience rather than on theory

relativism=what’s what or wrong changes for each situation

personalism=treats people as central instead of laws

positivism= situation ethics believes in the reality and importance of love

Question 3

what are the 6 propositions

Answer 3

• love is the only thing that is intrinsically good.
• love is the ruling norm in moral decision making and replaces all laws.
• love and justice are the same thing
• love wills the neighbours good regardless of whether the neighbour is liked or not
• love is the goal of the act and justifies any means to achieve that goal
• love decides on each situation as it arises without a set of laws to guide it

Question 4

what will you include in the introduction

Answer 4

• agape
• 4 working principles
• 6 propositions
• it has lead me to argue that Fletcher’s Situation ethics gives no useful guidance for making moral decisions

Question 5

what is the story of Mrs Bergmeier

Answer 5

• towards the end of ww2 Mrs Bergmeir is separated from her family when she is taken to a Russian work camp.
• she is told the only way to get sent home is either to fall sick or pregnant.
• She enlists the help of a friendly camp guard, succeeds in conceiving a child, and is reunited with her family.
• the husband fully understands the circumstances of her adultery and welcomes the child as his own

Question 6

give Fletchers example of patriotic prostitution

Answer 6

• a women seeks the following advice: there is a war in her country which the government believe could be stopped by some clever use of blackmail, but this would involve her sleeping with an enemy spy.
• thousands of lives could be saved if she is prepared to sacrifice herself.

Question 7

explain Fletchers example of Hiroshima

Answer 7

the decision to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a loving action because it brought about an end to the war with Japan

Question 8

which scholars support your argument and why? Paragraph 1

Answer 8

• what is loving for one person might not be loving for others caught up in the situation.
• outline story of Mrs Bergmeier
• Mrs Bergmeier’s children have their mother back but what about the wife of the camp guard. How might see feel about her husbands adultery? and the camp guard himself who knows he has a child he may never meet.
• agapeistic approach doesn’t offer any real guidelines.
• natural law does on the other hand as Mrs Bergmeier might have to be forced to consider the harmonious living of those caught up in the situation ( primary precepts)

Question 9

what are the weaknesses of your argument?

Paragraph 2

Answer 9

• it could be argued that Fletcher’s situation ethics does give useful guidance for making moral decisions.
• approach is relativist so flexible
• example of patriotic prostitution. acceptable as it has a practical outcome, putting people before the law and she is acting in faith that the most loving course of action will result in the best outcome.

Question 10

what is an alternative view that may address these weaknesses ? paragraph 3

Answer 10

• however, situation ethics doesn’t define what love is so it gives no useful guidance for making moral decisions.
• e.g. nuclear bomb on Hiroshima
• debatable whether it was a truly moral action. Aquinas would argue that the aftermath of the Bon was not harmonious for the people of Japan. Was it really loving?

Question 11

what are the weaknesses of this view? paragraph 4

Answer 11

• seeking maximum agape is a useful principle in any situation as love for others will always be considered a good thing.
• e.g. bomb on Hiroshima. The lives saved by ending the war outweighed the lives killed by dropping a bomb.
• critics of situation ethics claim that the first century biblical concepts of agape can’t be applied to moral decision making in the 21st century but if agape is understood as wanting the best for others it may be argued that “love thy neighbour” is not an outdated statement.

Question 12

what will you include in the conclusion

Answer 12

• situation ethics gives no useful guidance in moral decision making.
• dangerous to use such relativist approach as agape can be used to justify any action.
• what is loving for one is not necessarily loving for others caught up in the situation and the approach doesn’t define what love is.