Situation Ehtics - Love and justice are the same, for justice is
LOVE distributed, nothing else.
- Right and wrong depend upon the situation.
There are no universal moral rules or rights-
each case is unique and deserves a unique
solution.
- There is only one rule in Situation Ethics- follow
the most loving course of action.
What inspired situation ethics?
- Inspired by Jesus’ gospel message of love
(agape). Joseph Fletcher appealed to the biblical
scholar Rudolf Bultmann, according to whom
Jesus taught no ethics other than
- “love thy neighbour as thyself” =Ultimate Duty
- He was believed to have been inspired by "God
is Love" (I John 4:8).
Fletcher maintains that there are essentially
three different ways of making moral
decisions.
- Legalism- An attitude that exalts law about all
else.
- Antinomianism- Literally, ‘against the law.’ An
approach which states that people are under ‘No
obligation’ to follow the laws set for them. The
situation will provide the solution, based on the
persons conscience.
- Situationism- the rule of agape. This love is not
merely an emotion but involves doing what is
best for the other person, unconditionally.
- Situation ethics is sensitive to variety and
complexity. It uses principles to illuminate the
situation, but not to direct the action.
- Fletcher divides his principles into two
categories:
1. The four working principles and
2. The six fundamental principles
Four Working Principles
- Pragmatism- The proposed course of action
must be practical, and be motivated by LOVE.
- Relativism- Each situation is unique. People
must respond to agape love in each situation.
The belief that circumstances do change the
action which would normally be made.
- Positivism- first place is given to Christian love,
rooted in faith.
- Personalism – people come first, not rules or
ideals.
The Six Fundamental Principles
- The ruling norm of any Christian decision is
LOVE, nothing else.
- The only thing intrinsically good; namely LOVE:
nothing else at all.
- A loving end justifies the means.
- Love’s decisions are made situationally not
prescriptively.
- Love wills the good of others, regardless of
feelings.
To review:
- Four Working Principles- used to determine if
any action is loving.
- Six Fundamental Principles- used to determine
what the most loving action would be in all
situations.
The strengths and weaknesses of Situation Ethics
Strengths
-THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT- Bases it's
decisions upon Christ's statement that the whole of the
law was summoned by the command that we ought to
love our neighbour.
-IT IS FLEXIBLE... giving people personal freedom to
decide what is the most loving action. It is also flexible in
the sense that it allows people to take responsibility for
their own moral decision making, so it
doesn't patronize them and insist they follow the rules
unquestioningly.
-DOESN'T REJECT LAWS... but sees them as useful
tools which are not absolutely binding. As opposed to a
legalistic, who follows the absolutes, and believes they
must tell the truth could one day be faced with a
murderer who wanted to find out where their wife was,
they would be in an impossible position and most likely
go against their approach. An advantage of
a situationist is that they can lay aside the rule of not
lying for the better outcome of saving a person's life.
-AGAPE IS CENTRAL TO MORALITY... is the basis of
Fletcher's theory and there can only be a Christian basis
of morality if agape love is seen as central to morality, if
we follow how love guides us how can it be wrong?
Weakness
-WHAT IS MOST LOVING?... The biggest issue is that
there will always be a dispute as to what is the most
loving action and what this actually means in practice,
everyone is subjective and have their own interpretations
of different things and could see one thing as loving and
another not that someone else may object.
-EXAMPLES FLETCHER USES = TOO
EXTREME...they account for very few real instances in
life, for example he uses the anecdote of the sacrificial
adultery where a POW woman debates on whether to
commit adultery with a guard in order to be reunited with
her family, his idea being that it would bring the most
love about, however it would be immoral and go against
'thou shall not commit adultery'.
-IT DECONSTRUCTS ITSELF... We need a specific or
definitive idea of what outcome is the most valued, right
before we can decide which acts are needed.
 Divine Command Theory
- the oldest and the most widely held ethical
theory in the world.
- The belief that what is moral, and what’s
immoral- is commanded by the divine.
- Every ethical system needs some kind of
foundation, and with the divine command theory,
it’s God or every divine being.
- It addresses many of our biggest questions
about right and wrong, which is why it’s the
ethical theory of choice for much of the world.
Plato- He wrote an entire book about his
problems with the divine theory a dialogue called
EUTHYPRO.
Euthyphro Problem
- Are right actions right because GOD commands
them? This means that you’re accepting that
god’s command alone is simply what makes
something right.
- Are right actions commanded by GOD because
they are right? This view means that something
outside of God in some sense binds him and his
commands.
Whichever horn you choose it presents
serious problems for the divine command
theorist.
Either God is bound by a standard outside of
himself, or God’s goodness doesn’t really mean
a anything.
The Five Ways of Proving the
Existence of God
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) proffers the
Quinquae Viae or the Five Ways of proving the
existence of God.
- Argument from Motion- Nothing moves by
itself. Anything that moves is moved by another
which is also moved by another. The chain of
the moved and the mover cannot go on infinitely.
There must be the first or prime mover which is
unmoved. This unmoved mover is God.
- Argument from Causation of Existence-
Nothing exist by itself. Anything that exists is
caused by another which also caused by
another. The chain of cause and effect cannot
go on infinitely. There must be the first cause
which is uncaused. This uncaused cause is
God.
- Argument from Necessary and Contingent
Beings- Beings are contingent, that is, caused
beings, or necessary, that is, the cause of
contingent beings. The existence of contingent
beings necessitates the existence of a
necessary being. And this necessary being is
God.
- Argument from Degrees of Perfection-
Goodness, beauty, and knowledge are qualities
that exist in things. But these qualities exist in
varying degrees. There must be a perfect
standard to measure the degrees of these
qualities. And this perfect standard is contained
in God.
- Argument from Intelligent Design- The
universe is governed by laws and manifests
order and design. The manner by which the
universe works, points to an intelligent designer.
And this is God.
The Natural Law
- Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274)
- A morality that is separate from and independent
of religion
- Ethics that should be based on human nature
- Anchors on God’s Eternal Law
- Law defined, “Ordinance of reason, promulgate
for the common good by the one who has
charge of society.”
Four Kinds of Laws by Thomas Aquinas
- Eternal Law – refers to God’s over-all
eternal plans and providence for the
universe. It encompasses all laws.
- Divine Laws – refer to the Divine
commands God has revealed to human kind
(Beatitudes and The Ten Commandments).
- Human Laws – refers to those promulgated
by a competent authority for the
establishment of peace and harmony in the
society. (ex: Church Laws Civil Laws)
- Natural Law – refers to the humans’ natural
tendency to attain their proper end through
the use of reason and free will.
• – is reflected in human reason
and free will and is, therefore manifest, objective
and universal. “Do good and avoid evil.”
Cardinal Virtues- are a set of four virtues
recognized in the writings of Classical
Antiquity and, along with the theological virtues,
also in Christian tradition.
- Prudence – an intellectual virtue of practical
wisdom or as St. Thomas Aquinas puts it “right
reason in action.” It dispose a person to do what
is right and employ the right means in all
circumstances.
- Justice – a moral virtue which denotes constant
willing and resolve to give others their due.
- Temperance – a moral virtue that controls,
moderates, and restrains inordinate.
- Fortitude – a moral virtue that sustains firmness
of the will and spirit in the face of difficulties,
adversity and fear.