Situation Ethics

Question 1

Legalism

Answer 1

the view that there are fixed moral rules that are universal and should always be followed

Question 2

Antinomianism

Answer 2

the view that the laws put in place by societies should be rejected

Question 3

Situationism

Answer 3

the idea that rules should be set aside when love demands (agape)

• the middle way between legalism and antinomianism
• based on reason, but rejects idea of inbuilt law

Question 4

Pragmatism

Answer 4

the presupposition that we should do what is pragmatic - what works in achieving the final telos of agape

Question 5

Relativism

Answer 5

the idea that morality is relative to the situation and that we should avoid words like ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘perfect’

Question 6

Positivism

Answer 6

the presupposition that ethical norms are held by faith - agape is the only intrinsically good thing

Question 7

Personalism

Answer 7

the presupposition that morality is about persons, not rules

Question 8

normative ethics

Answer 8

the branch of ethics concerned with establishing standards or principles by which moral actions are judged as right or wrong

Question 9

The Four Presuppositions

Answer 9

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

Question 10

The Six Propositions

Answer 10

1. Only one thing is intrinsically good: love
2. Love is the only norm
3. Love and justice are the same
4. Love wills the neighbour’s good/love is not liking (love is not sentimental and has to include those we dislike)
5. Only the end justifies the means and nothing else
   - end?
   - means?
   - motive?
   - consequences?
6. Love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively

Question 11

Agapeic calculus

Answer 11

‘Do whatever is the most loving thing’

Fletcher’s parallel to Bentham’s pleasure calculus

Question 12

Conative

Answer 12

brought about by the (human) will

Question 13

Humanism

Answer 13

a system of thought in which reliance is placed on human intelligence and will, rather than on supernatural guidance

Question 14

Strengths

Answer 14

1. It is flexible - it is personal and relevant to each situation as it is less rigid than natural law and can be adapted to each situation.
2. Places Agape and Christian love at the centre of it - Christians should follow by example
3. Fletcher has tried to produce an ethical approach that works in the modern age
4. An attempt to find a middle way between the rigidity of legalism and random nature of antinomianism

Question 15

Weaknesses

Answer 15

1. Agape can be confused for obsessive love which can be dangerous (e.g. some parents with their children)
2. Very subjective and dependent - may be no consensus on what the most loving thing to do is
3. Without specific theological grounding (i.e. definition of love being based on Jesus’ teachings), the interpretation of “love” becomes purely subjective or meaningless

Question 16

Examples of Fletcher-approved agape

Answer 16

• Mother Maria chose to die in a concentration camp gas chamber in the place of a young ex-Jewish girl
• Gisella Perl saved 3000 lives and prevented the murder of 6000 by performing 3000 abortions in Auschwitz