Situation Ethics

Situation Ethics

1. The four presumptions

   • Pragmatism
     • the answer to an ethical problem has to be practical, it must solve the issue or prevent further issues from occurring.
   • Relativism
     • Agape Love should be relative to each individual in the situation. Fletcher said the situationist avoided words such as never and Perfect as we should not deal in absolutes.
   • Positivism
     • The outcome of every ethical situation should be positive for all parties. Moral choices should be based on agape love. we should use our faith in love over laws of reason
   • Personalsim
     • Ehics should concern themselves with people rather than things. This is why Fletcher used the word agape rather than love as it is associated with the love for people, rather than the love of things.

2. Fletchers six fundamental principles

   • Only love is universal.
     • Agape love is the only absolute we should use and this can change depending upon the situation
   • Christian decisions should be based upon love, nothing else
     • Christians should act lovingly as this may be more lawful than actual laws. for example, Jesus broke the Sabbath to carry out a more loving action.
   • Love and Justice are the same
     • Fletcher believed that if we act out of love, then our decisions will be correct.
   • Love wills the neighbours good
     • Basing decisions on love means agape will not discriminate.we will look past love for families and friends to see what the most loving thing for everyone is. Agape does not discriminate.
   • Only the end Justifies the means
     • It is teleological as it deals with the outcome of a situation.
   • Decisions are made situationally.
     • Each situation is different and therefore decisions may be different under different circumstances, only Agape love will be constant throughout these situations.

3. Middle way

   • Antinomianism
     • comes from Greek, meaning Lawless. Christians are under no obligation to follow any laws at all.
   • Legalism
     • There are a clear set of rules and regulations that should be followed, this follows a deontological approach to ethics.

4. Conscience

   • Fletche believed that the conscience was something you did when you made a decision. Some Christian writers argued that you had the voice of god inside of you, guiding your decisions, Fletcher rejected this idea.

5. Situationism

   • The middle way between Antinomianism and Legalism
   • Fletcher argued that absolute moral principles do not work in the real world.
   • For a meaningful decision to be made, each situation should be considered by the individual to provide a moral decision and action.