SITUATION ETHICS
CONTEXT
Joseph Fletcher was an Episcopalian priest, but later became
Humanist
Expert in biological sciences: Euthanasia and Abortion
1966: Situation Ethics: The New Morality
The US in the 1960s went through a futile war against communism
in Vietnam, creating radical anti-war, civil rights and “Free Love”
movements
Fletcher’s ideas focused a post-war dissatisfaction with authority
INSPIRATION FOR SITUATION ETHICS
Rudolf Bultmann: focused on no other duty than “Love thy
neighbor”
William Temple and Fletcher had three key ideas in common: To act
situationally, justice is socially organised love and Personalism
Karl Barth: God’s command has to be applied specifically to context
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: God’s will is based off the needs of others
and the model of Jesus
SITUATION ETHICS
Teleological Christian ethic; focused on outcome with Christian duty
Follows moral law or violates it in accordance with loves’ need
Only rule or “universal” that matter is love
Not relativistic ethical theory as Love is a universal
An ethical person will examine the situation and act with the most
love
Good and evil are extrinsic, they are external to a situation
Supported by Bishop John Robinson (1963 Honest to God)
EXAMPLES FROM “SITUATION ETHICS”
St Louis cab driver and voting Democrat rather than Republican
Sleeping with an enemy spy to end a war, even though it is against her
morals
The “justifiable mass killing” at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY
Consistent with the view of Jesus in the New Testament
Jesus acted with love regardless of situation “Sabbath day was
made for man, not man made for Sabbath”
The Ten Commandments should be taken as moral principles, not
laws
St Paul’s belief in Love
“Love thy neighbor”
, LEGALISM
Fixed moral rules that are Universals and should always be followed
Fletcher argued the person should come first
ANTINOMIANISM
To deny any possibility of rules. Act subjectively with own rules
Fletcher argues that it disregards the calculated outcome of Love (not
teleological enough)
AGAPE
Ultimate form of Love
Sacrificial, unconditional love
Fletcher argues it is inherently Christian
Opposed to “eros” form of love
Examples include Charity, being kind to a stranger and donating blood
AGAPEIC CALCULUS
6-Point calculus appliable for all humans when making decisions:
Respect, Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Justice and
Honesty
SIX PROPOSITIONS
Categories on how to act accordingly with love
1. Only one thing that is intrinsically good is Love
2. The ruling norm of Christian decision is Love
3. Love and justice are the same because justice is love distributed
4. Love wills your neighbors good, regardless of what you think
5. Only Love justifies the means
6. Love’s decisions are always made situationally
FOUR WORKING PRINCIPLES
1. Pragmatism: Seek practical solutions to achieve success
2. Relativism: What we do must be subjective to us; what we can do and
who we are
3. Positivism: The commitment to a higher Good or a God of Love. Love
supremacy.
4. Personalism: Requires we place people/ individuals to the center of
all of our moral decisions
CONSCIENCE
Conscience is to be used as a verb; to act conscientiously
Fletcher criticizes Aquinas’ notion of a conscience being an external
witness to the actions we enact
CONTEXT
Joseph Fletcher was an Episcopalian priest, but later became
Humanist
Expert in biological sciences: Euthanasia and Abortion
1966: Situation Ethics: The New Morality
The US in the 1960s went through a futile war against communism
in Vietnam, creating radical anti-war, civil rights and “Free Love”
movements
Fletcher’s ideas focused a post-war dissatisfaction with authority
INSPIRATION FOR SITUATION ETHICS
Rudolf Bultmann: focused on no other duty than “Love thy
neighbor”
William Temple and Fletcher had three key ideas in common: To act
situationally, justice is socially organised love and Personalism
Karl Barth: God’s command has to be applied specifically to context
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: God’s will is based off the needs of others
and the model of Jesus
SITUATION ETHICS
Teleological Christian ethic; focused on outcome with Christian duty
Follows moral law or violates it in accordance with loves’ need
Only rule or “universal” that matter is love
Not relativistic ethical theory as Love is a universal
An ethical person will examine the situation and act with the most
love
Good and evil are extrinsic, they are external to a situation
Supported by Bishop John Robinson (1963 Honest to God)
EXAMPLES FROM “SITUATION ETHICS”
St Louis cab driver and voting Democrat rather than Republican
Sleeping with an enemy spy to end a war, even though it is against her
morals
The “justifiable mass killing” at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
ROLE OF CHRISTIANITY
Consistent with the view of Jesus in the New Testament
Jesus acted with love regardless of situation “Sabbath day was
made for man, not man made for Sabbath”
The Ten Commandments should be taken as moral principles, not
laws
St Paul’s belief in Love
“Love thy neighbor”
, LEGALISM
Fixed moral rules that are Universals and should always be followed
Fletcher argued the person should come first
ANTINOMIANISM
To deny any possibility of rules. Act subjectively with own rules
Fletcher argues that it disregards the calculated outcome of Love (not
teleological enough)
AGAPE
Ultimate form of Love
Sacrificial, unconditional love
Fletcher argues it is inherently Christian
Opposed to “eros” form of love
Examples include Charity, being kind to a stranger and donating blood
AGAPEIC CALCULUS
6-Point calculus appliable for all humans when making decisions:
Respect, Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, Justice and
Honesty
SIX PROPOSITIONS
Categories on how to act accordingly with love
1. Only one thing that is intrinsically good is Love
2. The ruling norm of Christian decision is Love
3. Love and justice are the same because justice is love distributed
4. Love wills your neighbors good, regardless of what you think
5. Only Love justifies the means
6. Love’s decisions are always made situationally
FOUR WORKING PRINCIPLES
1. Pragmatism: Seek practical solutions to achieve success
2. Relativism: What we do must be subjective to us; what we can do and
who we are
3. Positivism: The commitment to a higher Good or a God of Love. Love
supremacy.
4. Personalism: Requires we place people/ individuals to the center of
all of our moral decisions
CONSCIENCE
Conscience is to be used as a verb; to act conscientiously
Fletcher criticizes Aquinas’ notion of a conscience being an external
witness to the actions we enact
