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Situation Ethics
- The theory of Joseph Fletcher
- A type of relativist theory
- Made in 1966 - a time
of plenty of radical ideas
- A response to antinomianism (idea that there is
no moral code except what arises from
spontaneous acts) and legalism (the idea that
everyone must follow a fixed moral code)
- Midway between the two
- Avoids the chaos of
antinomianism and the
'manual-checking' of
legalism
- Midway between the two
- Based on the Bible (Fletcher
was originally a Christian but
became an atheist)
- Because the Bible doesn't allow us
to know exactly what God is
thinking, we should try to follow
the rule of unconditional love -
'agape'
- Love is the
only thing
which is
intrinsically
good
- All love must be for others - you must be unselfish
- All love must be for others - you must be unselfish
- We must
consider the
consequences
of our actions
- Do what you believe to be most
loving in every individual situatoin
- Love is the
only thing
which is
intrinsically
good
- Because the Bible doesn't allow us
to know exactly what God is
thinking, we should try to follow
the rule of unconditional love -
'agape'
- A type of relativist theory
- Principles
- Four Working Principles
- Positivism
- Love comes first
- Love comes first
- Pragmatism
- Looks to
practical,
reasonable
answers
- Looks to
practical,
reasonable
answers
- Relativism
- No objective values
except love
- No objective values
except love
- Personalism
- People, not rules or
ideals, come first
- People, not rules or
ideals, come first
- Positivism
- Six Fundamental Principles
- I use the WIELDS anagram
- Love WILLS the good
- Love is INTRINSICALLY good
- Love is an END, not a means
- LOVE is justice
- Love is DEONTOLOGICAL (it
doesn't depend on the situation)
- What is a loving action
depends on the
SITUATION
- Love WILLS the good
- I use the WIELDS anagram
- Four Working Principles
- For and against Situation Ethics
- For
- A theory based on love is very attractive
- It's a good theory for Christians
- But you don't
have to be
Christian or
even religious
- But you don't
have to be
Christian or
even religious
- It's flexible - you can intervene, and also adapt
- so it's better than relativism or absolutism
- You can make individual choices, not
fixed on rules or following a group
- A theory based on love is very attractive
- Against
- It's very hard to predict
the consequences of
your actions
- There is never a
definite answer
- It might be said to go against
Chrisitian teachings, despite
being based on Christian love
- Everything depends
on the choice-maker
who could be mistaken
- Why should love
be described as
'Christian' love?
(Not really a flaw
in the theory but
might ut people
off following it)
- Might not consider the
opinion and preference of
the people involved
- It's very hard to predict
the consequences of
your actions
- For
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