Content and Exam Tips for OCR A Level Religious Studies
Joseph Fletcher
Situation Ethics
Content
Fletcher’s situation ethics, including:
agape
the six propositions
the four working principles
conscience
Key Knowledge
origins of agape in the New Testament and its religious development in the writing of Fletcher
what they are and how they give rise to the theory of situation ethics and its approach to moral decision-making:
Love is the only thing that is intrinsically good
Love is the ruling norm in ethical decision making and replaces all laws
Love and justice are the same thing–justice is love that is distributed
Love wills the neighbour’s good regardless of whether the neighbour is liked or not
Love is the goal or end of the act and that justifies any means to achieve that goal
Love decides on each situation as it arises without a set of laws to guide it
what they are and how they are intended to be applied:
pragmatism: it is based on experience rather than on theory
relativism: it is based on making the absolute laws of Christian ethics relative
positivism: it begins with belief in the reality and importance of love
personalism: persons, not laws or anything else, are at the centre of situation ethics
what conscience is and what it is not according to Fletcher, i.e. a verb not a noun; a term that describes attempts to make decisions creatively
Situation Ethics is a teleological theory which suggests the consequences of an action are what matters. Joseph Fletcher founded the theory in the 1960’s based on the idea of Situationism. This suggests that one follows the principles of one’s religion or the laws of the land unless the more loving thing to do is break them.
This love is agape love, which is selfless, unconditional and is not really an emotion, it is more of a choice. Therefore the right thing to do in any situation is that which creates the most loving outcome for the most people.
He had a number of presuppositions and principles to help people understand how to use his theory and better explain agape love.
J.A.T. Robinson was a contemporary for Fletcher who also believed in Situation ethics. He wrote a famous book called ‘Honest to God’ which suggests God is the ground of our being, not some separate entity. He also used situations like divorce to highlight why Divine Command Ethics were incorrect.
Both used examples of Jesus from the New Testament to justify situation ethics, but they were also very influenced by the social changes occurring at the time.
Key Ideas
Fletcher sees situation ethics as the only sensible approach to ethics as it avoids the two extremes in ethical thought: legalism and antinomianism.
Legal is an over-reliance on applying rigid rules. Although Jesus criticised the Jewish approach of the Old Testament in following rules, Fletcher argues that later Christian thought has returned to a reliance on them.
Antinomianism is a rejection of all moral laws (nomos meaning law in Greek). Twentieth-century philosophy has been affected by existentialism and this has led to a rejection of moral laws and a replacement of individual decision making.
The Four Working Principles - The Foundations of Situation Ethics
1. Pragmatism
A philosophical approach to truth. In order to count as true, something must work in practice.
2. Relativism
The right thing to do is dependent on the context.
3. Positivism
Laws are things that human beings create. Humans have to be active in bringing about love by the decisions they make.
4. Personalism
Situation ethics is people-centred. Jesus placed people above rules e.g. the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Six Propositions
Fletcher identified six propositions that give rise to the theory of situation ethics and its approach to moral decision-making.
'Only one thing is intrinsically good, namely love: nothing else at all'
Some things are extrinsically good and they help us to achieve a higher purpose. Other things are good intrinsically - they are good in themselves. Only love is truly good in itself.
'The ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else'
In the New testament, Jesus consistently replaced Old Testament laws with the principle of love. Where laws and love conflict, we must follow love.
'Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else'
Justice and love are not opposites as is often thought. Justice is Christian love applied rationally and in a calculated manner.
'Love wills the neighbour good, whether we like him or not'
Love does not discriminate. The word agape used of love does not convey the warmth oh phileo (friendship love). It is a selfless commitment or decision to treat others as best we can.
'Only the end justifies the means, nothing else'
Fletcher argues that if our aim or end is love, then any means of achieving love is justified.
'Love's decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively'
Fletcher states that love decides 'there and then'. Knowing that we should love doesn't tell us what to do in specific situations. We have to gather the facts, rather than decide the case before we know them.
What exactly is agape?
The Greek language has four words for love:
Storge: Love based on family connections
Philia: Close friendship
Eros: A sexual love
Agape: Charity, unconditional love
The Greek background of the word agape suggests a love for humankind. Agape is the greatest type of love because it exists regardless of circumstances. It is not natural for humans and is a type of love that can only be practised with God's help.
Agape Love
Agape in Christian Tradition
John 8:1-11 A Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
11 “No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Jesus grants pardon, not acquittal, since the call to leave off sinning shows he knew she was indeed guilty of the adultery. His non-condemnation is quite different from theirs. They wanted to condemn but lacked the opportunity; he could have done so, but he did not. Here is mercy and righteousness. He condemned the sin and not the sinner (Augustine in John 33.6). But more than that, he called her to a new life. The gospel is not only the forgiveness of sins, but a new quality of life that overcomes the power of sin (cf. 8:32-36; 1 Jn 3:4-6).
Conscience
Fletcher's theory of situation ethics places emphasis on the individual to make the decision between right and wrong. There is no need to consult any authority; the person in the situation has to make the decision.
Fletcher's remarks on conscience shed some light on the idea of individualism at the heart of his theory. Fletcher argues that traditional understandings of the conscience are mistaken. Conscience is other seen as a thing, as the voice of God or a tool to reason with, yet it is not a thing we posses. Rather, it is an activity that we do. Conscience refers to the process of deciding. It is best understood as something that looks forward in terms of prospective judgement on our actions after an event.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
It is easy to understand.
It gives people the freedom to act according to the circumstances.
It enables people to respond emotionally and/or rationally to the situation, rather than act according to rules.
It is based on love.
Love always seeks the well-being of others.
It provides an alternative Christian ethic that is consistent with the gospel representation of Jesus.
Orthodox Christianity can often be seen as legalistic.
Situation ethics takes its principle from Jesus’ action of breaking the law when the situation demanded it for reasons of love.
It can judge individual cases on their own merits rather than what has happened in the past.
It is flexible and practical.
It is admirable to seek the good of another person.
It can make tough decisions when, from a legalistic perspective, all actions seem wrong.
It can take the least bad of two options, which legalistic approaches cannot.
Weaknesses
The absolute law of love is still a law.
It is ambiguous – no two people may agree on what the most loving thing to do actually is.
It breaks down complex moral situations into individual moral decisions. This may not be the best way to resolve the problem.
It depends too much on an individual’s viewpoint.
It may not be possible to accurately guess the consequences.
Are only short-term consequences considered? How do we guess long-term consequences?
This theory could justify murder in the interests of love.
Does love always justify the suffering of others?
Are some types of love better than others?
How do we measure love?
Situation ethics is subjective, and individualistic because situations must be judged from within their own perspective.
How can we decide what is the most loving action? We might be wrong.
Situation ethics could prove unworkable because it isn’t easy to determine all the consequences of an action.
There’s a danger that the appeals of unconditional love may be polluted by a selfish human tendency.
Agape love is an ideal – Can we really be expected to show equal love to our families and strangers?
Acting from Agape love in fundamental to Situation ethics. How can we tell when love is unconditional or not? Who gets to decide whether a motive is pure?
Theories such as Situation ethics are ultimately idealistic, whereas moral dilemmas are realistic.
Rarely do our real-life situations conform to the neat solutions that would apparently be available to us if we applied the principles of situation ethics. Safer to follow rules.
Situation ethics could accept any action at all if it fits the required criteria.
After a century of some of the most horrendous acts of genocide and the rise of concern for basic human rights, surely some things are just wrong and can never be right on any grounds.
What is believed to be loving ends could justify actions that many people regard as simply wrong.