What is situation ethics? 
It is a middle point between antinomianism and legalism
This theory is based on the idea that we should always do the most loving thing in every situation which is called agape 
Who started situation ethics?
 Fletcher
he came up with a theory of situation ethics because he didn’t like the idea that legalism the only way to be morally good was to follow set of rules and not think
he also did not like antinomianism as there are no rules mean people can courses harm to others and it would be ok 
Why is I agape love the best way to make moral decisions? 
it does not discriminate against people
• it shows compassion to all people equally
• it is a firm principle upon which to base all behaviour, so avoids the chaos of antinomianism
• it is flexible, showing love to people in different ways, depending on who they are and what their situation is. This avoids the rigidity of legalism.
What biblical evidence is there to support Fletcher’s approach?
This evidence is from the new test and wills reference through Jesus
Jesus rescues a woman caught in adultery from being stoned. He forgives her.
Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath when it is forbidden to work.
Jesus teaches we should love our enemies.
Another example would be poor of the good Samaritan 
What does this mean
Situation Ethics as a form of moral relativism
the belief that right and wrong are not absolute or universal, but rather vary based on culture, context, or individual opinion. It posits that no single, objective moral standard applies to everyone, meaning actions are judged based on situational factors and personal or cultural beliefs
This means that you do not have to follow every law in the Bible only if there is a more loving thing you can do.
 Why is situation ethics a consequentialist theory? 
Consequentialism assesses moral actions based on their outcome or results rather than the act itself. Situation Ethics, as a consequentialist theory, works out whether the result of an act will be loving. If it is, then it is a good act. An act, such as sex between members of the same gender, is neither intrinsically good nor intrinsically bad. It is dependent upon the outcome of the act in each separate case. 
Why is this theory a teleological one? 
This is because it is focused on the end or purpose of an action, which means that in situation ethics you should always aim to choose and do the most loving thing
What is the concept of Agape 
Agape is the unconditional care or concern for others/altruistic behaviour/charity.
The boss principle is the leading or fundamental principle.
• Agape is the overriding principle that has priority over all other laws.
Any law that does not serve love can be broken.
• This principle is sometimes called the agapeistic calculus - greatest love for the greatest number.
• Sometimes Situation Ethics is called Christian Utilitarianism.
What are the four working principles? 
Pragmatism- any action must be practically possible in working to serve a loving outcome
Personalism-the individual person is the priority and love for them is more important than the detail of any law 
Positivism - you cannot prove that love is the most important thing . We must just have faith that it is and apply our reason afterwards to see how best to be loving .
Relativeism - all actions must be relative to a loving outcome. There are no fixed laws that apply universally except for love.
The six fundamental principle 
Only love
Ruling norm
Justice
Neighbourly love
The ends justify the means
Situation

What are the six funds in detail?
 Only love - the only incentive good thing is love nothing else
Ruling norm - love is the ruling norm of Christian decision-making for a Christian to make a moral decision. They must always assess whether it will produce love before worrying about a being God
Justice - love and justice are the same thing
 Neighbourly love - love your neighbour as you love yourself .
Ends justify the means - if the outcome is loving any action at all is permitted
situation- Situation - acts should be decided situationally not prescriptively. This means we look to the situation and decide each individual case. rather than looking to a prefabricated set of rules and trying to make them fit
tha circumstances
 it is important to know what agape love is not
It is important to understand what agape is not. The ancient Greeks had several words that can all be translated into English as love.
1 Storge - instinctive love, like a parent for a child. A feeling that just
comes to vou
2 Philios - love for friends, a love you choose that might be dependent upon their behaviour towards you.
3 Eros - romantic or sexual love, as you might have for a lover. It is sometimes confused with lust.
4 Agape - none of the above. It is an action of care or concern for another being that is not dependent upon whether they are a nice person or not.
It is more like our understanding of the word charity.
Situation ethics applied to homosexual relationships 
What Fletcher would say about a homosexual relationship laws and rules are not as important and should take second place to the command of love he would say if you look at the first and second fundamental principles they support a homosexual relationship.
Sometimes you have to think about what kind of relationship they’re in.
How does situation ethics apply to polyamorous relationships? 
Any laws or rules about a polyamorous relationship are not as important as a concept of love. We must start from a position where we trust that love is the good thing and then work out how best to be loving we need to assess the individual situation.
You need to make sure that everybody knows and it does not harm anyone else and it does always cause the most love if somebody didn’t know it would not cause the most loving outcome if they found out meaning that that wouldn’t be allowed
To Fletcher might not agree with them being together as this is not the type of love he means when he says do the most loving thing 
challenges to situation ethics
The degree to which agape love is the only intrinsic good 
The degree to which I could agape is the only intrinsic good 
Agape is an intrinsic good but not the only one
This is saying it is still important, but it is not the only important thing that we should do for Matthew said that Jesus came to fulfil the laws, not abolish it
In Corinthian, other goods are mentioned faith and hope
Genesis mentions joy, peace, patient, kindness, goodness, faith, faithfulness, and self-control as intrinsic goods 
Agape love is too subjective to be considered intrinsically good?
? Some acts seemed good without being loving, e.g. Consider the trolley problem.
You cannot love everyone for example, abortion is loving to the mother but not the child
I could pay is an oversimplification there is more to morality then this 
Does Fletcher situation ethics promote immoral behaviour? 
It tries to do what is best but inadvertently leads to immorality.
You can’t love everyone equally. so it is too idealistic to be realistic.
It doesn’t require people to murder, but except that much acts are sometimes necessary
It allows us to choose between two bad options when that is all that is available.
The extent to which situation ethics promotes justice 
The agapeistic calculus
disregards the minority to bring love to the majority.
Justice is equal treatment, not the same outcome. The same rules should apply to all.
It is impossible to legislate for Situation Ethics in a society, so it cannot promote justice.
Justice is impossible. We can’t show love to everyone even though Fletcher wants us to.
Situation Ethics is idealistic but not realistic.
Some people are resistant to help and so we
cannot provide love if they don’t want it.
It is not fair to the victims of crime to show equal love to criminals.
The effectiveness of situation ethics in dealing with ethical issues 
It is not possible to judge the actions and laws of others because everything is relative.
It allows actions that most others would recognise as intrinsically bad.
Laws are put in place for a reason, to prevent problems that have arisen historically.
We cannot know all the future consequences that will arise because of one decision.
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Virtue Theory14
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Determinism And Free Will7
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Situation Ethics20
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Utilitarianism Benton’s And Stuart Mills32
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Ethical Egoism19
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The Metaethical Approach Of Naturalism15
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Natural Law19
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Finnis Natural Law And Proportionalism9
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Divine Command Theory12
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Meta Ethical Approach Of Intuitionism15
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Meta Ethical Approach Emotivism1
