situation ethics: the approaches and agape

who founded the theory of situation ethics?

joseph fletcher in his 1966 book: situation ethics: the new morality

what do many argue situation ethics was a product of?

a product of its age, the 1960s is often seen as a liberal era that resulted in the rejection of traditional ideas and institutions, including a rejection of deontological moral theories

what did fletcher design situation ethics as?

a direct rebellion against the deontological ethics of christianity e.g. natural law. however, situation ethics was still designed to be a christian ethic, just without all the deontological rules

what did fletcher argue situation ethics was not based on?

on the principles of legalism, antinomianism or the conscience

what is legalism?

the belief that all human actions should be governed by rules. in terms of ethics, legalism means there will be a strict rule for every ethical situation

why did fletcher believe that christianity has become too legalistic?

by following the strict rules of the bible (such as the 613 commandments) or the precepts of natural law

why does fletcher reject legalism? (1)

because it stops people thinking for themselves as all answers to moral dilemmas are either written down in a holy book or reasoned through natural law. for example, on the issue of lying, one should only consider the commandment ‘do not lie’ from exodus 20 and not think about the issue yourself

why does fletcher reject legalism? (2)

there are times when legalistic rules are inappropriate to apply in the real world, sometimes the situation demands the moral agent rejects religious legalistic rules. fletcher was influenced by author arthur miller who argued that legalism was: the immorality of morality

what is antinomianism?

the exact opposite of legalism, an approach to ethics where there are no rules at all. a moral agent would not use an ethical system at all when faced with a moral dilemma. instead, moral agents make ethical decisions in an unguided and spontaneous way, making a one-off decision based on how they were feeling at that particular moment in time.

what theory did antinomianism come out of?

the theory of existentialism (the belief that the moral agent is completely free and thus is solely responsible for their own ethical decisions)

why did fletcher reject antinomianism as an ethical approach?

because moral agents need some form of ethical guidance, otherwise they would do horrific things but not understand what they have done is wrong. people would become amoral and society could slip into complete anarchy

what is conscience?

a god given intuitive ethical guide, some christians believe that the holy spirit acts as a moral guide. therefore, many religious moral agent believe ethical guidance comes from the conscience (god working within us). for example, when faced with a moral dilemma about whether to lie or not; the internalised holy spirit will guide the moral agent on what is the most god centred action in that particular situation.

why did fletcher reject the conscience?

because he claims the conscience is not a noun (a thing) but is instead a verb (an action or process). therefore, the conscience cannot be god working inside us (a thing) but instead it is just the brains mechanical process of working out moral decisions (an action). therefore, the conscience cannot be used as a basis for decision making because it is merely the process of how the brain works out morality- it does not have any principles on what to base morality on, ‘conscience is merely a word for our attempts to make decisions’

what did fletcher state that his ethical theory, situation ethics, should be based on?

the ideal middle ground between the extremes of legalism and antinomianism. he called this ‘principled relativism’

why did fletcher believe that the middle ground between the extremes of legalism and antinomianism was the ideal place to put his ethic?

because it avoids the problems associated with legalism and antinomianism. though fletcher rejects absolutist rules, associated with legalism, he did accept that laws can act as guidelines (or as he said ‘illuminators’) to morality

what did fletcher believe that the middle ground between legalism and antinomianism should be?

a single guiding principle which pointed moral agents in the right direction, allowing everyone to work out whether the consequences of their actions were right or wrong in every single moral situation. this single principle was love

what did fletcher conclude the fundamental feature of the christian holy book was?

the law of love, he said the bible can be summed up in one word, the word being love

what specific type of love did fletcher have in mind for his situation ethics?

his idea of love is defined by the christian idea of love known as the greek term agape

what does agape translate as?

agape literally translates as selfless love

three parts of ‘selfless love’:

1) love is directed outwards towards others, not inwards towards ourselves, love is not selfish

2) love is given unconditionally, love is not dependent on receiving anything back

3) love is given constantly, love is given to all.