Situation Ethics 3

Situation Ethics 3

1. Understanding of Christian Love

   • 1. Fletcher understood Christian love using the Greek term 'agape' which is best translated as 'unconditional of self-sacrificial love'.
     • 2. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character.
       • 3. Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself.
         • 4. Fletcher saw his approach to ethics as grounded in the Christian gospel.
           • 5. He sees love as an active principle - it is a 'doing' thing rather than a noun or thing in itself.
             • 6. 'Love is the only universal. But love it not something we have or are, it is something we do'.
   • Fletcher sees love as an active principle 'love is the only universal. But love is not something we have or are, it is something we do'. It is a 'doing' thing rather than a noun or thing in itself. Agape is the word used in the New Testament for pure unconditional Christian love. It is love which is disinterested and seeks only the benefit of the one who is loved.

2. Four Presumptions

   • Pragmatism, Relativism, Positivism and Personalsim
     • 0.1. Fletcher suggested that the effectiveness of situation ethics could be tested by his four working principles.
       • 1. PRAGMATISM - the solution to any ethical dilemma has to be practical. In other words, would your course of action be attainable in the circumstances or would be cause further issues.
         • 2. RELATIVISM - love (agape) should be applied in a way that is relative to each individual situation. Fletcher wrote that the 'Situationist' avoids words such as 'never', 'perfect' and 'always' as he avoids the plague because we should not deal in absolutes.
           • 3. POSITIVISM - the outcome of the ethical decision should always aim for a wholly positive outcome. Moral choices must work and be based on the commitment to agape love. We should use our faith in love over laws of reason.
             • 4. PERSONALISM - ethics should concern itself with people rather than things. This is why Fletcher used the term agape instead of love because agape is associated with the love of others rather than the love of things. This means we should love people rather than love laws.

3. Fletcher's Six Fundamental Principles

   • 0.1. Fletcher identifies six statements to serve as the practical application of this ethical theory:
     • 1. ONLY LOVE IS INTRINSICALLY GOOD, ONLY LOVE IS UNIVERSAL - Fletcher believes that agape is the only absolute we should use and this means it can change depending on the situation.
       • 2. THE RULING NORM OF CHRISTIAN DECISION IS LOVE, NOTHING ELSE - Christians should act lovingly as this may be more 'lawful' than actual laws. Jesus broke Sabbath laws in order to carry out a more lawful/loving action.
         • 3. LOVE AND JUSTICE ARE THE SAME - Fletcher believes that as long as we act out of love then our decisions will be just (right).
       • 4. LOVE WILLS THE NEIGHBOURS GOOD - Basing decisions on agape means that love will not discriminate. We will look beyond the love of family and friends and see what would be the most loving thing for everyone concerned. Agape does not discriminate.
         • 5. ONLY THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS - it is 'teleological' as it deals with the end result. To follow the principle of 'Do not Kill' is not practical and is inflexible. We should decide if the decision is loving based on the end result.
           • 6. LOVE'S DECISIONS ARE MADE SITUATIONALLY - For real decision making there has to be freedom. Absolutes do not give you freedom as they cannot be broken. Situationism allows freedom to make relative decisions.
   • How it can be applied to the UK going to war in Syria:
     • END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS - if the war achieves peace and leads to less innocent deaths then it is loving and justified.
       • IT DEPENDS FULLY ON THE SITUATION - if the way is just and fought to end injustice or to prevent genocide then it would be the most loving thing to do. All ethical decisions must be situation based.
         • LOVE WILLS THE NEIGHHBOURS GOOD - even if the war is fought away from the UK then we have to accept that agape love is unconditional. We should fight to protect those in need.

4. How it can be applied to the UK going to war in Syria:

   • PRAGMATISM - the solution to any ethical dilemma has to be practical if the war will protect others, end terrorism or bring peace then it would be practical thing to do. Likewise many innocent people are being killed in Syria and so they are choosing to leave the country. It would seem practical to go to war to make the country more peaceful and reduce the amount of refugees.
     • RELATIVISM - a Situationist avoids words such as 'never' or 'absolutely'. Every decision depends on the situation and we should not follow absolutes as they could lead to the wrong action. If Syria is an area where terrorist are based then it would seem like a war against them would be relative to the situation.
       • POSITIVISM - this is showing a commitment to agape. War is often a form of sacrifice WW1 and WW2 were fought with a commitment to agape - those who fought did so others could be free. Likewise, conflict in Syria could lead to a positive outcome for both Syria and the wider world.
         • PERSONALISM - This is the argument that we have to consider people over laws. We simply have to look at how people are being treated in Syria and ask ourselves whether these people deserve our help and protection.