Situation ethics

• Inherited by Joseph Fletcher
• There is a single absolute principle of love that can be applied within each situation to produce the best outcome
• Fletcher’s key text- “ Situation Ethics: The New Morality”
• Fletcher took some influences from ancient influences such as Aristotle ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ - “to feel or to act towards the right person to right extent…that is not easy”

  We cannot lay down firm rules in every situation
• Fletcher studied the work of William Temple that wrote ‘ William Temple: 20th Century Christian ‘ and he was a love-centred personalist. He believed that focusing on love was a “moral duty
• Fletcher thought that legalism was too restrictive and antinomianism (no rules) had no structure so he made situation ethics
• teleological- theory is focused on the greater good that the action causes; consequences
• relative- action taken is based on the situation
• agapeistic- actions motivated by and end with love
• Paul Tillich:

  • "The law of love is the ultimate law because it is the negation of law"- law is disputable but love is not
• " 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'. How to do this is another question, but this is the whole of moral duty"- Temple
• theory developed for "man come of age"- Bishop J.Robinson and thought that christian moral actions should only be based on the law of love
• J.A.T Robinson-

  • wrote 'Honest To God'
  • rejected the traditional conservative church
  • Wanted a situational approach to adapt to society.
  • "there will be an increasing alienation, both within and outside the church".
  • God should be understood as "the ground of our being"
  • "man come of age" - Christian moral actions should only be based on the law of love
• Biblical example: "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" ; Jesus saving an adulterous woman from stoning (John 8:2-11) to demonstrate the weakness of absolutism and strength of betraying legalism
• love is presented throughout the bible, from the 10 commandments to I Corinthians 13:4-8 ("love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude")
• "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"- John 15:13

  Put people first- truest form of agape
• Six fundamental principles:

  • "Only one thing is intrinsically good; namely love" - love is ultimate form of good
  • "the ruling norm of Christian ethics is love" - law of christian ethics is love
  • "love and justice are the same, for love is justice distributed" - just is fairness, and love leads to what is just
  • "Love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not" - all humans have a divine essence in them
  • "love justifies the means" - love justifies all
  • "love's decisions are made situationally, not prospectively" - love decides there and then.
• ‘Christ Jesus . . . abolished the law with its commandments and legal claims’ (Ephesians 2:13-15). - focus on God's will (love, here) instead of legalism
• The Four working principles - moral laws should only be taken into consideration with "greater rules" in mind


  • Pragmatism
  • Relativism - decisions made don't offer universal guidelines
  • Positivism - some truths should be accepted as self-evident
  • Personalism - Person is at the centre of concern
• What are the four examples Joseph Fletcher uses to apply to situation ethics?

  . Himself Might his Quietus make.

  . Special bombing mission NO.13.

  . Christian cloak and dagger.

  . Sacrificial adultery.
• Summarise the example of Himself Might his Quietus Make.

  . A terminally ill patient has 6 months to live. His doctors can prescribe pills that will keep him alive for three years. His life insurance policy expires in October so if he took the pills, he would have no money to give his family.
• What would the response to the example of Himself Might his Quietus Make be if applied to situation ethics?

  . He should take the pills. The fourth working principal is personalism where it is t be believed that humans are the most important when it comes to agape.

  . Protect those who are suffering.
• Summarise the example of the special bombing mission NO. 13.

  . 'When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the plane crew were silent.' Captain Lewis muttered six words, " My God, what have we done?" Three day later another hit Nagasaki.

  . In order to decide whether to use nuclear weapons, the US president appointed a committee. They decided that the lives saved by ending the war swiftly by using this weapon outweighed the lives destroyed using it.
• What would the response to the example of the special bombing mission NO. 13 be if applied to situation ethics?

  . Killing people isn't self giving.

  . The end of lives ensuring others are saved doesn't justify the means as not only did people die, but further damage towards the later generations of Nagasaki and Hiroshima such as birth defects and health problems goes way beyond other people surviving.

  Reason why situation ethics would support the bombings:
• Summarise the example of the Christian Cloak and Dagger.

  . While reading Biblical Faith and Social Ethics on a plane, a man is approached by a young woman, who asks her to help solve a problem.

  Her government has asked her to seduce and sleep with an enemy spy in order to blackmail him. This went against her morals, but if the plan was successful it could bring a war to an end.
• What would the response to the example of the Christian Cloak and Dagger be if applied to situation ethics?

  Relativist theory:

  . Sex outside marriage/love equals sin, but outcome equals end war. which applies to agape. Therefore, the end justifies the means.
• Summaries the example of the Sacrificial Adultery (Mrs Bergmeir).

  . During the second world war, a married German woman with three children was captured by a soviet patrol and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Ukraine.

  . She learned after the war that her family were trying to stay together and find her. According to the rules, she's only be released if she was pregnant. After considering her options, she asks a Volga German camp guard to impregnate her. She then later on became reunited with her family.
• What would the response to the example of the Sacrificial Adultery be if applied to situation ethics?

  . It was the right thing to do.

  Selfless love:

  . Personalism: people are more important that some circumstances that require sin, therefore, a good consequence justifies the bad action.
• Bernard Hoose - Proportionalism - Critic

  • proportionalism is seen as the midway between situation (teleological) ethics and natural (deontological) law.
  • "It is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason to justify it.”
  • 'Christian Ethics'

  
• Problems with Proportionalism

  • does not help the everyday person as there is no working definition of proportion

  • no guidance on when you can put aside a moral law

  • no understanding of how it can produce a consistent ethical theory.
  • does not accept the supremacy of Jesus as Fletcher originally proposed.
  • The church still has ultimate authority
• Strengths of situation ethics

  • true to the ethic of the Gospels
  • promotes individual autonomy
  • flexible
• weaknesses of situation ethics

  • too vague - we must take responsibility if we are going to mature ethically
  • unrealistic - humans won't consistently embody agape love
  • Case studies are too extreme - most modern people aren't war prisoners and it isn't applicable to everyone
• J.Fletcher - *Situation Ethics* 


  "There are no moral absolutes, only the situation at hand and the choices we make"

  Highlights the flexibility of Situation Ethics
• J.L Mackie - *Ethics*

  " All ethical statements are subjective"

  Situation ethics is still useful due to its flexibility. Mackie is justifying this and stating that legalism is not the correct approach to ethical incidents
• Bishop Desmond Tutu - *The Book of Joy*


  "Little bits of good put together ... overwhelm the world"

  Principle of agape provides an orderly society
• M.Sandel *What's the Right Thing to Do?*


  "The relationship with the other person...precedes all understanding and knowledge"

  Applying Matthew 22 (agape) and caring about others in general is the best way to approach human nature
• P.Singer - *Practical Ethics*


  "the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge"

  To live ethically, one must abide by the moral law of agape and the six fundamental principles

  Justified by Luke 10:27 = "You should love God and yourself like you do other people"
• Matthew 22

  "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"

  Applies to personalism from the 4 working principles and "love wills the neighbour's good, whether we like him or not" from the 6 fundamental principles
• G.E Moore - *Principia Ethica*

  "the only thing that is good without qualification is goodwill"

  Slightly counterintuitive as this isn't a relativist view, however upholds the working principle of pragmatism as it allows situation ethics to work towards its telos- love
• William Barclay believes that situation ethics provides too much freedom. Human love is distorted and not perfect, so without clear moral boundaries we could be subject to moral laziness

  We "still need the crutch and protection of law"