situation ethics

legalism

strict rules that must be followed

+clear guidance for people to follow

-cannot take situation into account

antinomianism

no rules to follow

+takes situation into account

-leads to moral chaos

situation ethics

takes situation into account , gives ppl guidance . does this by claiming love is the one single absolute principle which should be applied to all situations-the action that is good is the one which has the most loving consequence in the situation you are in

how does fletcher interpret agape

he suggests that all other religions teachings only have value insofar as they enable agape-eg. kill baby when hiding even tho it goesa against ten commandments bc it would save more lives .

what do the 4 working principles do

involved in the guiding principle of agape to moral situations

pragmatism

an action must be calibrated to the reality of the situation

relativism

‘relativises the absolute, does not absolutise the relative’ eg, ‘ do not kill’ becomes relative to love

is killing has loving outcomes eg euathanisia ,m then that outcomes is false relative to love

no moral claim could be justified as total relativism- it is always relative to love whihc means that only moral claims are valid will elative to love be justified to fletcher.

positivism