SITUATION ETHICS

PLAN

SECTION 1

INTRO• Alternative Christian ethic• 1966 J. Fletcher “Situation Ethics”• Time of change - Kennedy’s assassination, sexual revolution• Teleological and consequentialist.

Robinson• Divorce law• “Honest to God,” 1963, “Respond situationally, not

prescriptively.”

Agape • Law of love• F&R: Intrinsically good and unconditional

Fletcher explained Agape• Love is not liking• Unconditional• “Love only is always good”• No action is intrinsically good or bad• Love is the only norm

Biblical Basis• Jesus taught “Love God and love your neighbour”• Jesus worked on the Sabbath because the circumstances were

extreme

Four Working Principles• Pragmatism: “The proposed course of action should work, and

its success or failure will be judged on its principle,”• Relativism: rejects absolutes, “Christianity cannot go on trying

to lay down the law,”• Positivism: love is the most important criterion• Personalism: put people first, “A situationist asks, ‘who is to be

helped’?”

SECTION 2

W - Extreme Cases• Barclay – how often do we make life or death choices?• “It is much easier to agree that extraordinary situations need

extraordinary measures than to think that there are no rules for everyday life.”

W – Law is vital• Protects• Deters• Defines crime• Barclay “Human beings need the guidelines offered by laws to

avoid moral chaos.”

W – Overly Optimistic• Humans are intrinsically selfish.

S - Flexible• Used in variety of situations

S – Truly Christian• Theists do not have to sacrifice their faith.