Antinomianism
Abandonment of all rules
Secular
Ideology that any religious practice or symbol that are excluded from the public sphere + limited to the private sphere e.g home
Legalism
Adherence to previously established rules
Dues ex machina
A supernatural being who intervenes in the world from outside it
Agape
Noble love
4 Working principles
Pragmatism, Relativism, Personalism, Positivism
Old morality
The strict application of Torah Law/ Legalism
New morality
Jesus’ idea of how the law should be applied
Situation Ethics
The method of ethical decision making that states that you must consider noble love (agape) in decision making, and that a moral decision is correct IF it is the most loving thing to do.
Pragmatism
A practical way of doing things
Positivism
Something that you can verify through experience/observations
Personalism
Something that is personal to the individual
Falsification
Falsification of a statement through evidence / observation
Fletcher’s main quote
“Morality of an action depends on the situation”
Pope Pious XII’s Criticisms
Situation Ethics is subjective as decisions are made from what the situation is perceived to be
Let’s you use love as a justification for doing harmful things
Individualistic as humans see things from their own perspective. Unconditional love can be polluted by selfish human desires.
Barclay’s Criticisms
Situation ethics does not follow any rules/laws which are critical for a society to function otherwise people will make their own unethical judgements
Laws have been proven to be beneficial and useful
Fletcher uses unusual and extraordinary examples which are much easier to argue with
‘man come of age’
Said by Robinson
The view that a man is mature and developed enough to make ethical decisions themselves without God’s help.
Four love types
Written by CS Lewis
Storge - affection for familiar people such as family
Philia - Friendship love that is a strong, non-romantic connection between two people
Eros - Romantic love between two people
Agape - An unconditional love
Fletcher’s 6 fundamental principles
Only one thing is intrinsically good; love and nothing else at all
The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else
Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else
Love wills the neighbour’s good, whether we like him or not
Only the end justifies the means, nothing else
Love’s decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively
Fletcher’s examples of Agape love
A woman killing her crying baby in order to prevent a group of people from being attacked whilst trying to escape
A prisoner of war committing adultery with a guard to become pregnant and return to her family
Strengths of Situation Ethics
Responds to the changing social and moral climate to provide a realistic Christian alternative
Remains within Jesus’ teachings + his rejection of legalism
Provides flexibility to respond to individual situations