AS-LEVEL



AS-LEVELSITUATION ETHICSWho is the main scholar? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AN ACTION TO BE LOVING?HOW DO YOU DEFINE LOVE?TASK 1A rich man asked a lovely young woman if she would sleep the night with him. She said ‘No’. He then asked if she would do it for ?100 000. She said ‘Yes!’Is it wrong to have sex for money:To survive?b) For luxury purchases? c) To fund a life-saving operation for a friend or relative?In each case, explain your answer.a)b)c)Why might your answers for a, b and c differ?What inspired Situation Ethics? – Jesus’ Message of LOVE!It has its origins in the radical movements of the late 1950s and 1960s. During the 1960s, America was involved in a long and in the end futile war against communism in Vietnam. Fletcher was opposed to the war and wanted to re-establish what he considered the most important aspect of Christ morality – the law of love.Inspired by Jesus’ gospel message of love (agape). Fletcher appealed to the biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann, according to whom Jesus taught no ethics other than“love thy neighbour as thyself”.He was believed to have been inspired by"God is Love" (I John 4:8).The Theory of Situation EthicsFletcher maintains that there are essentially three different ways of making moral decisions.Legalistic EthicsAntinomian EthicsSituation EthicsWhat is the rule of agape? _________________________________TASK 2Explain what is meant by the term situation ethics.TASK 3A woman is was suffering from a terminal disease and asked her loving partner to euthanize her. Her partner is now being tried for assisted suicide.How would legalists, antinomians and situationists judge the partners actions and decide whether the action should be punish or not?LEGALISTANTINOMIANSITUATIONISTTASK 4.Write down a moral dilemma – explain how a legalist, an antinomian and a situationist might approach the dilemma.Fletcher divides his principles into two categories:The four working principles andThe six fundamental principlesFOUR WORKING PRINCIPLES1)2)3)4)SIX FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES1)2)3)4)5)6)Also during the 1960’s, _______________________ was developing similar views to Fletcher. He was _____________of Situation Ethics and himself wrote: “Assertions about God are in the last analysis assertions about love”TASK 5Try to think of the two most plausible examples whereby killing a human being could serve love. Then evaluate how convincing your arguments are.1)2)How convincing are your arguments?STRENGTHS OF SITUATION ETHICS1)2)3)4)WEAKNESSES OF SITUATION ETHICS1)2)3)4)John A.T. Robinson, Honest to God, 1963The teaching of Jesus.. “The clear teaching of our Lord is taken to mean that Jesus laid down certain precepts which were universally binding. Certain things are always right, other things were always wrong – for all men everywhere.But this is to treat the Sermon on the Mount as the new Law, and even if Matthew may have interpreted Jesus that way, there would hardly be a New Testament scholar today who would not say that it was a misinterpretation. The moral precepts of Jesus are not intended to be understood legalistically, as prescribing what all Christians must do, whatever the circumstances, and pronouncing certain courses of action universally right and others universally wrong. They are not legislation laying down what love always demands of every one: they are illustrations of what love may at any particular moment require of anyone……Jesus’ teaching on marriage, as on everything else, is not a new law prescribing that divorce is always and in every case the greater of two evils (whereas Moses said there were some cases in which it was not.) It is not saying that love, utterly unconditional love, admits of no accommodation; you cannot define in advance situations in which it can be satisfied with less than complete and unreserved self-giving……Jesus never resolves these choices for us: he is content with the knowledge that if we have the heart of the matter in us, if our eye is single, then love will find the way, its own particular way in every individual situation. …Love alone, because, as it were, it has a built-in moral compass, enabling it to “home” intuitively upon the deepest need of the other, can allow itself to be directed completely by the situation. It alone can afford to be utterly open to the situation, or rather to the person in the situation, uniquely and for his own sake, without losing its direction or unconditionally. It is able to embrace an ethic of radical responsiveness, meeting every situation on its own merit, with no prescriptive laws.What is Robinson Saying and how does that relate to situation ethics?WHAT DID BERNARD HOOSE TALK ABOUT?What was his theory called? ________________TASK 6Can humans act out of unconditional love for each other, or are they selfish?Situation Ethics – Essay Plan(1) Describe the main features of Joseph Fletcher’s theory of Situation Ethics [30](2) Evaluate the view that the strengths of the theory outweigh its weaknesses [15]INTRODUCTIONType of theory?Background of theory.Contrast other approaches to ethicsPARA 1: Fletcher and his theoryPARA 2: Four Working PrinciplesPARA 3: Six Fundamental PrinciplesPARA 4: Other approaches to Situation EthicsJohn RobinsonBernard HooseAO2INTRODUCTION:What your argument will be, key factors.PARA 1:Key strengths (evaluate)PARA 2:Key Weaknesses (evaluate)PARA 3:(Briefly) – does Hoose / proportionalism offer a better approach?PARA 4:Conclusion. Restate your argument and summarise. ................
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