evaluation

• strengths of SE:

  • personal - people before rules
  • relative - 'flexible' nature allows varying, individual outcomes
  • up-to-date - due to its relative nature, SE can effectively be applied to modern issues that deontological systems fail to address
  • agape - encourages selfless approach seeking others' best interests
  • teleological - focuses on outcome, so end justifies means
  • animals - values pain + suffering of animals; consideration of personhood
• weaknesses of SE:

  • baseless + isolation of the Church - discards thousands of years of Church teachings on the whim of an individual
  • subjective - 'love' has a different meaning for each individual
  • unclear + vague - responses to applications are generally unclear; not helpful
  • use of extreme examples - Fletcher uses these which suggests SE may not be applicable in day-to-day circumstances
  • immoral - allows 'bad' actions in the name of love