situation ethics

summary of situation ethics (quote)

summary of situation ethics (quote)

The morality of an action depends on the situation

who created situation ethics

Joseph Fletcher

what year did Fletcher introduce this idea, why is this important

1963

people in the 60s were against the Christian legalistic views particularly due to the women’s suffrage movement

what two types of ethics is situation ethics seen as a middle pathway between?

legalistic ethics and antinomian ethics

what is legalistic ethics and the problems with it

set of moral rules and regulations

lifes complexities require additional laws and clarifications

what is antinomian ethics and the problems with it

belief in no ethical system, treating each situation as unique

there is no right and wrong or good and bad

what is the aim of situation ethics

to maximise agape (unconditional love)

what are the four working principles

pragmatism

relativism

positivism

personalism

what is pragmatism

moral actions must actually work to achieve a realistic goal

what is relativism

there are no fixed laws which must always be obeyed

what is positivism

christian love rooted in faith is the most important thing

what is personalism

people come first before rules or ideals

what are the 6 fundamental principles (used to define agape)

love is always good

love is the only norm

love and justice are the same

love is not liking

love justifies its means

love decides there and then

explanation of ‘love is always good’

love is a universal and absolute force of good for all

explanation of ‘love is the only norm’

love is understood by all humans, everyone making decisions

explanation of ‘love and justice are the same’

justice is the best way to spread love

explanation of ‘love is not liking’

agapeic love is not sentimental nor is it self love

explanation of ‘love justifies its means’

all actions for love are worthy

explanation of ‘love decides there and then’

love supersedes all other values

how might situation ethics allow theft

theft for others may be agapeic eg to save a life of a starving child

why may situation ethics not allow theft

for self gain or benefit, particularly if this deprives others for example stealing from a public library- love is not liking

why might situation ethics allow lying

lying to reassure may show agape eg if somebody is dying you may lie to comfort them that they are okay following personalism

why might situation ethics be against lying

for personal gain including the withholding of information

why might situation ethics allow the use of cloning

fletcher suggested that following personalism there is no reason why cloning may not be used to benefit humans eg to reduce diseases etc

why might situation ethics be against the use of cloning

if it is not for the benefit of people, eg for personal gain of an individual

why might situation ethics allow ‘designer babies’

following personalism and pragmatism to avoid genetic diseases etc which may cause harm to humans

why might situation ethics be against the use of ‘designer babies’

fletcher suggests we should not use genetic designing for dangerous or unrewarding jobs but instead use human-machine hybrids

why might situation ethics allow embryonic research

following personalism to research for the benefit of humans- personalism focuses on ‘actual persons’ rather than ‘potential persons’

why might situation ethics allow abortions

finding the most agapeic solution could mean having an abortion eg if there would be a risk to the life of the mother or child

why might situation ethics not allow abortions

those who view a fetus as a human would argue abortion goes against personalism

why might situation ethics allow voluntary euthanasia

may be the most agapeic solution as it brings an end to suffering and may give more dignity to someone’s death

why might situation ethics not allow euthanasia

some would argue there are issues if it is not the persons own, rational choice

could be argued fletcher would be against it as he is christiona and only God can take life

why might situation ethics allow capital punishment

may be the most pragmatic solution to protect society, also showing personalism

why might situation ethics not allow capital punishment

following relativism there is no law which cannot be broken so it could be suggested that there would be no need for capital punishment

why might situation ethics allow intensive farming

it is a pragmatic solution to provide food for those who need it

it shows personalism as it prevents starvation

why might situation ethics not allow intensive farming

not agapeic to harm animals (however this is undermined by personalism)
not showing agape if focus is simply on profits

may be against personalism due to environmental damage and effect on people

why might situation ethics allow animals in science

pragmatic and shows personalism eg in finding cures, eg the covid vaccine

why might situation ethics be against animals in science

animals are put under more testing than needed

animal testing for cosmetics etc is unnecessary

what is the situation ethics view on blood sports

against- there is nothing agapeic about it and not allowed as it is not needed for human life/ welfare

why might situation ethics allow the use of animal organs

pragmatic as it may be necessary as there are not enough human donors

shows personalism as it saves human lives

why might situation ethics be against the use of animal organs

some try to extend principles of agape to animals

strengths of situation ethics (theres 6)

being a christian, the ethical approach on agape makes sense, especially when using jesus as a role model as jesus broke religious rules and delt with people/ situations individually

it is based on moral common sense- personalism, pragmatism and situation analysis all make sense

jt promotes individual autonomy- people are empowered to make their own decisions

situation ethics can adapt to social changes

laws can be outdated and harm people for doing what is normal- the lack of rules prevents this

it promotes social justice and motivates to change for the better

what are the criticisms of situation ethics (there 5)

it provides a confusing account of love, suggesting it as the intention, action, and consequence- having the basis of the ethical approach being confusing makes it difficult to apply

it is vague when explaining its value- love promotes human welfare but we dont really know what this is

his definition of ‘the situation’- everyone approaches situations with different values and priorities, can a norm/ system be based on peoples moral instincts

do the ends justify the means- can we ignore actions in favour of a consequence

all rules except love can be broken- how true is this, are there no universal rules