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Situation Ethics - Coggle Diagram
Situation Ethics
AO1
Fletcher rejects modern Christian morsal teachings which he calls 'legalism', basing ethics on strict rules that must always be adhered to. This is because it fails to take the situation into account.
He also rejects the idea that there should be no rules at all, as this leads to moral chaos
Situationism is the ideal middle ground, acting as a guide instead of a ruleset by following Agape - selfless love of your neighbour
An action is therefore good so long as it maximises the amount of love provided, this can be measured via the four working principles
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Granting autonomy
It gives a dangerous amount of autonomy as we are not saints. Mankind still requires the protection of strict laws, as power still noticeably corrupts even the most selfless of men
From medieval times, we have come of age tho. In the past, we were more controlling and less educated and as such needed fixed rules, however now people are more civilised and can be trusted
When we remove laws, people behave terribly, as seen in Zimbardo's experiments of power and Golding's Lord of the flies
Ignores the Bible
'Thou shalt not kill' & 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' are both commands that can be broken provided they lead to a loving outcome, this is unbiblical
This is a strength of the bible, as taking it literally is unscientific however there is no objective interpretations of the Bible, so Fletcher follows the foundational theme of love
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Doesn't repp Jesus
It makes no sense to reduce ethics down to just one of Jesus' commands. We must either seem his as an entire moral authority or not at all, we cannot pick and choose what teachings to follow
For example, Fletcher is a consequentialist, believing the ends justify the means, however the Bible expressly disallows evil acts for a good result
Fletcher argues that love thy neighbour is the GREATEST commandment tho, therefore should be adhered to first over the others
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subjectivty shi
LOVE IS SUBJECTIVE!!!!, it is therefore too unstable to be a basis for ethics
Even some Nazis thought they were doing the loving thing, some wanted to die over becoming Jewish
Normal love, not agapeic. Also, Nazis did not treat everyone like their neighbour and therefore were not acting on agapeic principles
However, C. Hitchens points out that agape is still subjective. loving your neighbour as yourself is only as good if the way you love yourself is good. Furthermore, others might not want to be loved in the way you love yourself.