What are the 4 principles of Situation Ethics? (2024)

What are the 4 principles of Situation Ethics?

Pragmatism, positivism, relativism and personalism are the four working principles which mean to be reasonably sure the act you take will work and provide the most loving consequence, accepting Situational Ethics as a matter of faith and not reason, each situation must be relative to love and bring about the most ...

What are the 4 presumptions of Fletcher?

Four things were assumed prior to Fletcher setting out Situation Ethics and these are the four presuppositions: Pragmatism, Relativism, Positivism and Personalism.

What is situation ethics in simple words?

Situation ethics (contextualism)

The right thing to do depends on the situation © In situation ethics, right and wrong depend upon the situation. There are no universal moral rules or rights - each case is unique and deserves a unique solution. Situation ethics rejects 'prefabricated decisions and prescriptive rules'.

What is an example of situation ethics in Fletcher's?

Ethical decisions are not cut and dried most of the time and they exist in a grey area. No decision can be taken before considering the situation. Fletcher gives the example of a women in Arizona who learned that she might “bear a defective baby because she had taken thalidomide”.

What is the principle of situationism?

Under the controversy of person–situation debate, situationism is the theory that changes in human behavior are factors of the situation rather than the traits a person possesses. Behavior is believed to be influenced by external, situational factors rather than internal traits or motivations.

What is the Fletcher's principle?

Fletcher's one moral law is that we ought to always act so as to bring about the most love for the most people (“Agápē Calculus”). Fletcher's Situationism is then a teleological theory. It is directed at the consequences that will determine whether an action is right or wrong.

What is Joseph Fletcher's approach to morality?

Fletcher believed humans could break conventional moral rules in certain situations, providing it was for a loving motive. In a situational approach, each situation is unique and should be treated as so.

What is the maxim of situation ethics?

Situation Ethics, therefore, is not a relativist theory, as they allow for NO UNIVERSAL PRICIPLES. There is one absolute maxim (a rule which demands application) to which particular judgements are relative. You must always apply love, but what that entails will be different in different situations.

What are the strengths of situation ethics?

What did Joseph Fletcher think was Jesus most important teaching?

The teaching of love for neighbour, the 'Greatest Commandment', was for Fletcher the essential summary of all biblical teachings. It was also recognised as such in the teachings of St Paul (1 Corinthians 13) as the greatest of all virtues - what better base for practising Christian ethics?

What does situation ethics say about adultery?

relativism: the situation decrees that the most loving things is to help her family. the commandment to not commit adultery is not an absolute and is only relevant if there is harm of suffering. positivism: no intrinsic law is against extramarital sex, so with a positive motive then it is not harmful.

What are the golden rules of ethics?

The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that you should reciprocate to others how you would like them to treat you (not necessarily how they actually treat you).

What are the disadvantages of situational ethics?

Disadvantages of Situation Ethics

It does not provide a clear definition of what love actually is. Some might say it is too subjective – because decisions have to be made from within the situation.

Why is situationism good?

According to situationism, human behavior covaries with the situation. It follows, then, that not only morally bad or inappropriate behavior, but also morally good or appropriate human behavior covaries with the situation; good human behavior is socially-sustained.

What is situationism with example?

A situationism view is that our behaviors are determined by the situation—for example, a person who is late for work claims that heavy traffic caused the delay.

What is the difference between utilitarianism and situation ethics?

Because of its consequentialism, situational ethics is often confused with utilitarianism, because utilitarianism's aim is the greatest good for the greatest number, although situational ethics focuses more on creating the greatest amount of love and it also has different origins.

What does Fletcher argue?

Joseph Fletcher argued that love was what morality should serve. He thought that when making a moral decision, you should be prepared to set aside rules if it seemed that love would be better served by doing so.

What according to J Fletcher is the only thing that justifies the means?

5 'only the end justifies the means, nothing else. ': Fletcher argues that if our aim or end is love then any means of achieving love is justified. It is whether the end is worthwhile that determines whether the action is worthwhile.

What is at the Centre of Fletcher's Situation Ethics?

The core idea in situation ethics is Agape. It is key to Fletcher because it is based both on God's love for creation and the command to love thy neighbour. decision making is by a system of laws. According to Fletcher it's the right approach in the middle.

What does Fletcher say about conscience?

Fletcher rejected the traditional view conscience. He rejected conscience as a form of intuition, as inspiration from the Holy Spirit, as internalised cultural values and as the application of reason. Instead, conscience was simply a description of the process of response to ethical issues.

What does teleological mean in ethics?

teleological ethics, (teleological from Greek telos, “end”; logos, “science”), theory of morality that derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved.

Who is the father of modern morality?

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the German philosopher, is considered as the father of modern ethics and one of the great philosophers in the history of philosophy. He wanted to establish a firm foundation for moral philosophy.

What is the situation ethics dilemma?

Fletcher, who became prominently associated with this approach in the English-speaking world due to his book (Situation Ethics), stated that "all laws and rules and principles and ideals and norms, are only contingent, only valid if they happen to serve love" in the particular situation, and thus may be broken or ...

What is the golden rule of maxim?

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This seems the most familiar version of the golden rule, highlighting its helpful and proactive gold standard.

What did John Robinson say about situation ethics?

Following Joseph Fletcher, John Robinson claimed, "[Jesus] 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." In brief, ethical decision-making is situational and should be guided by love.