3A - Situation Ethics: Rejection of other forms of Ethics and Acceptance of Agape as the Basis of Morality

Which era was part of the reason for the popularity of situation ethics (but not the reason for its emergence)?

• The 'liberal era' of the 1960s

When did Fletcher found situation ethics?
What was his book called?

• 1966
• 'Situation Ethics: The New Morality'

Give three people who Fletcher was influenced by.

• Durant Drake
• Emil Brunner
• Paul Lehmann

What was situation ethics designed to be?

• A Christian ethic without deontological rules to maintain the integrity of C.ch

Which three approaches did Fletcher reject?

• Legalism
• Antinomianism
• Conscience

Explain how situation ethics is not based on Legalism.

• Legalism = belief that all human actions should be governed by rules (a rule for every situation)

• Fletcher believed that Christianity had become too legalistic (e.g. 613 commandments), which stops people thinking for themselves ∵ all answers to moral dilemmas are written down in the Holy Book, or reasoned through Natural Law

• "choking web of laws"

• Times when legalistic rules are inappropriate to apply in the real world - i.e you cannot always apply moral laws in a casuistic way
- e.g. if a murderer asks 'Where is your friend?', it is more appropriate to lie

• Arthur Miller: legalism = "the immorality of morality"

• Fletcher believed that Christianity had slipped into "a whole apparatus of prefabricated rules" as "directives" rather than "guidelines of maxims to illuminate the situation"

Explain how situation ethics is not based on antinomianism.

• Antinomianism = opposite to legalism: no rules at all; moral agent does not use an ethical system, instead makes decisions in an unguided/spontaneous way
- Developed out of Existentialism
- It rejects that moral agents need some form of moral guidance

• However, people would become amoral and society could slip into anarchy

• People could rape, murder, etc., without realising it is wrong

Explain how situation ethics is not based on the conscience.

• In a religious sense, the conscience = a God-given intuitive ethical guide; Fletcher - "guidance by the HS"

• Fletcher believes that the conscience is a verb, not a noun
- It cannot be God working inside us (noun) as "conscience is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions"

• Morality ≠ something set in stone which dictates how the conscience is to react in a given situation
- The C.ch has made this mistake as they have devised moral principles in abstract, systematised them, and the applied them to actual cases (casuistry) to give directives (e.g. principle that abortion is wrong = derived from 'do not kill'

• This approach to morality ≠ life-centered not person-oriented ∵ it only considers an abstract principle

What does Fletcher call the middle ground between legalism and antinomianism?

• "principled relativism"

Elaborate on Fletcher's idea of "principled relativism".

• It avoids the problems associated with Legalism + antinomianism

• He saw laws as "illuminators" and not "directors"

• "Christian situation ethics has only one [...] principle [...] agape" ∵ love = fundamental feature of the Bible (best summarised in 1 Corinthians 13)

• Each situation must be considered independently, using reason, guided by agape

What did Fletcher acknowledge regarding his 'new morality'?

• That is was not really new
• The roots of 'new morality' can be found in 'classical' Christianity

Many accuse Fletcher of an antinomian approach - how did he respond?

• By saying that his approach was not grounded in Existentialism, but in a more virtuous "strategy of love"

What are the two Bible passages that give the main focus of agape?

• Luke 10: 25-37 (Good Samaritan) - Jesus
• 1 Corinthians 13 - St. Paul

Explain Luke 10:25-37 in relation to agape.

• "an expert in the law [asked Jesus] which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

• They would have expected Jesus (as a Jew) to reply that all 613 = equally important (although not all rabbis believed this: Shammai emphasised worship of God and resting on Sabbath as most important)

• Jesus surprised him by saying: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart [...] soul [...] and [...] mind" (agreeing with Shammai); and "Love your neighbour as yourself"

• When asked "Who is my neighbour?", Jesus replied that anyone is, even your enemy

Explain 1 Corinthians 13 in relation to agape.

• St. Paul = considered by many theologians to be the second most important in the New Testament ∵ he was pivotal in the development of early Christianity

• "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love"

• He clearly valued agape above all other attributes, same as SE

• Impact of Paul's words in history of Christian ethics can be seen from Augustine + Aquinas to Fletcher

How is situation ethics relativist?

• No action is right/wrong in itself - no universal norms as it looks at each situation independently

• "There are no rules - none at all"

• He recognised the grey area of agape as the one true binding factor

• However, agape = a practical tool of application that responds to the needs of the situation, not an absolute principle that directs each situation uniformly

How is situation ethics teleological?

• Right/wrong = judged by the end outcome, not the action
• The end should always assert the triumph of Christian love

How is situation ethics consequentialist?

• Judges morality based on the consequences of our outcomes

• Morally good actions = consequences create agape

• Morally bad actions = consequences create selfishness

• e.g. stealing a loaf of bread:
- Good: give bread to starving family
- Bad: eat the bread myself
∴ same action can be right/wrong depending on consequences: no universal norms