Situation Ethics

What is it?

An ethical theory based on older theories, however, it was Joseph Fletcher who developed it.

Why did it develop?

After changes during the 20th century, Natural Law theory and teachings of the pope were no longer sufficient for Christian’s ethical decision making as they begun to face other situations that were not covered in the Bible.

Joseph Fletcher thought that protestant Christians needed an ethical theory that would enable them to work out how to behave in modern society. 

Fletcher’s new approach = situationism

He explained how other ethical theories can be divided into two types: legalism and antinomianism.

Legalism = Your decisions are determined by a pre-established set of rules.

Fletcher argued that this is an inadequate ethical guide as humans are far too complex and no matter how good the rules may be, there will always be situations, even if its is very ocassional, when the moral option is to break the rules.

Antinomianism = There are no rules, everyone can decide to act however they want.

Fletcher argued that this is equally inadequate as people would not behave morally which would lead to chaos.

Antinomianism comes in a few varieties:

Salvation - moral laws do not apply to those that are saved and have a spot in heaven saved for them.

Conscience - conscience can guide someone to do the right thing. (Inspired by the Holy Spirit)

Existential - the existence of values is dependent on the free choices made by human agents.

Situationism is the in between of these two extremes.

“Sometimes you’ve gotta put your principles to one side and do the right thing”.  - Quote from taxi driver in Fletcher’s book

‘The situationist enters into every decision-making situation fully armed with the ethical maxims of his community and its heritage, and he treats them with respect as illuminators of his problems.  Just the same, he is prepared in any situation to compromise them or set them aside in the situation if love seems better served by doing so.’ 

Joseph Fletcher, Situation Ethics: The New Morality (1966) 

Fletcher determined four working principles:

1) Pragmatism - The course of action must work, be practical and prioritise loving consequences over following rules. (not correspondence with some fixed laws)

What is morally right is what is practical, useful and what works rather than what corresponds with some pre-determined law - however this on its own is not helpful.

2) Relativism - All situations are relative and depend on circumstances and consequences and whatever is the loving thing.

3) Positivism - The chosen belief in Agape cannot be empirically proven or tested therefore we must posit that love is the guiding principle of ethics despite the lack of empirical evidence.

4) Personalism - Laws are for the benefit of the people and sometimes laws must be ignored for the sake of the person. A loving consequence for a person is more important than following laws. Morality is about what is best and most loving for a person.

Situation ethics claims that the only thing that is intrinsically good is love.

“There is only one ultimate duty, and its formula is “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, How to do this is another question, but it is the whole of moral duty” - William Temple

Jesus taught his followers that they should have agape love for everyone. - “Love thy neighbour”

Agape = selfless and unconditional

Six Fundamental principles:

1. Love only is good in itself – love is the sole intrinsic good. Something can only be considered good if it increases love. 

2. Love is the only rule – there are no other rules. So rules that some people cling to, such as “it is wrong to kill” do not always apply. The only rule that always applies is love. 

3. Love and justice are the same – an unjust action is not a loving action. Justice is love distributed fairly. So an action that treats people unfairly is not a loving action. 

4. Love is not liking – when Jesus told people to love their enemies, he didn’t mean that they had to like them – that would be ridiculous! Agape love requires that we act selflessly for other people’s best interests despite our not liking them, not because we like them. 

5. Love justifies the means – any action is good because of its loving consequences, not because of the nature of the action itself. So we may be permitted to carry out a seemingly bad act because it is justified by the love that results from it. 

6. Love decides there and then – we can only decide on the loving thing to do when we are in that particular situation. We cannot predict what would be the right action in some imaginary scenario. Only the person experiencing that situation at that time can decide. 

Homosexual relationships

Legal developments in the UK:

1967: Homosexuality partially decriminalised in England

2000: Age of consent equalised to 16 for both heterosexuals and homosexuals

2004: Civil partnerships allowed between same-sex couples

2013: same-sex marriage legalised

Fletcher’s view:

Fletcher claimed ‘There is some boundary between personal existence and the social membership. There is some range for private choice and personal taste’

Polyamorous relationships

Fidelity and loyalty are not equated with sexual exclusivity, but with faithfulness to the promises made about the relationship.

They often remove the boundaries associated with traditional gender roles.

In the UK bigamy (marrying more than one person) is illegal. Polyamorous relationships cannot have the same marriage laws permit.

In many other countries polygamy is legal. (usually only polygyny which is a husband having multiple wives)

Essay plans

Explaining situation ethics:

A - Situation ethics is Fletcher’s in between of legalism and antinomianism

B - Explain legalism and antinomianism and then situationism and how situation ethics carries it out.

A - Situation ethics follows the four working principles

B - Explain the four working principles and how they influence views on homosexual relationships. “There is some boundary between personal existence and the social membership.” - Fletcher

A - Situation ethics also aligns with the six fundamental principles

B - Explain the six fundamental principles and how it influences views on polyamorous relationships. - Fletcher described Agape love as “giving love - non-reciprocal, neighbour regarding” - love is not conditional on liking someone.

Situation ethics view on Homosexual relationships:

A - Morality is situational - there is nothing that is intrinsically good besides love - therefore the morality of a homosexual relationship is dependent on it creating Agape love.

B - “Love’s decisions are made situationally” - Fletcher

A - Legislation should not intervene with people’s private lives.

B - “There is some boundary between personal existence and the social membership.” - Fletcher

A - To reject homosexual relationships would be unloving therefore immoral.

B - The suffering that homophobia has caused can be clearly seen in history - Conversion camps, abuse etc. - talk about the six fundamental principles

Situation ethics view on Polyamorous relationships:

A - Morality is situational - there is nothing that is intrinsically good besides love - therefore the morality of polyamorous relationships is dependent on them creating Agape love.

B - “Love’s decisions are made situationally” - Fletcher + one of the six fundamental principles - nothing is intrinsically good but love

A - Legislation should not intervene with people’s private lives

B - “There is some boundary between personal existence and the social membership.” - Fletcher

A - To reject homosexual relationships would be unloving therefore immoral

B - talk about the six fundamental principles - justice, unconditional love etc.

Evaluation of Situation Ethics