Yamina Hamadache

 Main proponent Joseph Fletcher.  Book published in 1966 reflecting mood at time; Christians should make their own decisions based on love and Christian maxims.  Midway between Christian Legalism and Antinomianism (no fixed principles, morality is a result of individual spontaneous acts)  ONLY moral ‘rule’ is agape, unconditional love.  This is a normative relativist theory. Based on outcome, so Teleological.

 Fletcher found absolutism to be too demanding and restricting. He focused on the fact that situations are different and believed decision making should be based on that.  Fletcher said that it is impossible to know God’s will in every situation, so one must use the guiding maxims of Christianity (e.g. 10 commandments) and the principle of agape to come to the most loving decision.  Christians should make decisions themselves instead of just following rules.

 Pragmatism – the moral choice must work in practice.  Relativism – words such as ‘absolute’, ‘always’ and ‘never’ are rejected. The decision must be relative to agape.  Positivism – A value judgement must be made, giving first place to love.  Personalism – People come before laws. Morality is about what is most loving for those involved and not centred around laws.

1. The only absolute is ‘agape’, it is the only thing which is absolutely ‘right’/’good’. 2. This love is self-giving and seeks the best result for others, allowing the individual to make their own choices. 3. Justice is ‘love distributed’ – by acting in a loving way, the only outcome is justice. Justice seeks to give everyone their due. 4. Love has no favourites – one must treat their enemy equal to their family when making moral judgements. 5. Love must be the final end – one must act to achieve a loving result, not act in a loving way to achieve a certain result. 6. What is right in one situation may be wrong in another – the loving thing to do depends on the situation.

 Situation Ethics allows us to find moral solutions to modern ethical problems, unmentioned in the Bible, such as genetic engineering.  Flexible and takes situation into account, whilst focusing on Christian concept of love.  Focuses on humans and concern for others – agape.  It allows people to think for themselves, not blindly follow law. Baptist John Robinson called it ‘an ethic for humanity come of age’

 Pope Pius XII condemned decision making based on situation, saying that it contradicts the teachings of the Church and the Bible.  It is impossible to always know the consequences for something and therefore impossible to ensure that any action will result in the most loving outcome for all involved.