What is
Situation Ethics?
What is
Situation Ethics?Situation Ethics is theSituation Ethics is the
method of ethical decisionmethod of ethical decision
making that states thatmaking that states that
you must consideryou must consider
“sacrificial love” (agape)“sacrificial love” (agape)
in decision making, andin decision making, and
Situation Ethics is theSituation Ethics is the
method of ethical decisionmethod of ethical decision
making that states thatmaking that states that
you must consideryou must consider
“sacrificial love” (agape)“sacrificial love” (agape)
in decision making, andin decision making, and

‘Greater independence; more money in their pockets and
purses; the weakening of family bonds and religious
influences; the development of earlier maturity,
physically, emotionally and mentally; the impact of
modern books, television and periodicals’
(Sex and Morality, SCM, 1966)
The study above blamed many things on the fact that
many people were turning away from the Church’s rules
(legalism) and more towards antinomianism (the
abandonment of any rules). The world was becoming
more secular (non-religious) and people had stopped
listening to the Church and their teachings on what was
ethically right.
Good to
quote!

Fletcher and Robinson acknowledged these changes and sought
an ethical solution which would bring people back towards
making Christian moral decisions, but which didn’t have the
legalism associated with religion.
Robinson said that Situation Ethics was for “Man come of
age”. In other words, it was for people who were moving away
from having to be told what to do by God, and yet it still had the
Christian flavour. It was slap bang in the middle of legalism and
antinomianism!
Robinson and Tillich suggested that God could be understood
as ‘the ground of our being’, of ultimate significance, but not a
deus ex machine, a supernatural being who intervenes in
the world from outside it. In other words God is part of people
immanent not this almighty transcendent being who barks
instructions at us to follow.
Use this
phrase

Q: Give 2 things that made people start becoming secular
A: Vietnam war, contraception, TV/communication, greater
independence
Q: What was the study which investigated what was going
on called and in which year was it published?
A: Sex and Morality, 1966
Q: What did Robinson mean by “man come of age”?
A: The idea that the time had come where people were moving away
from having to be told what to do by God
Q: What does deux ex machine mean?
A: God is of great significance but does not interfere with humanity
anymore

Situation Ethics is based on 1 principle only – to the
most loving thing - and so it is relevant to
everyone, everywhere and in any set of
circumstances.
It also means that nothing is always right or always
wrong – it is situational so what may be right in
one situation, may be immoral in another situation.

Fletcher and Robinson didn’t mean just any kind
of love – it had to be unconditional and the sort
from one human to another. It is not based on
romance, sexual attraction or any relationship at
all. It can be from one stranger to another, as
well as between people who know each other.
It is the love that Jesus and St Paul talked
about in the Bible - AGAPE

 The fall out of such an idea was immense. To
many people this was a really popular and
interesting idea.
 To religious people it was an abomination and
flew in the face of what the Church stood for –
more about this later!

Fletcher came up with the 4 Working Principles
in order to help people understand how situation
ethics works and why it is a good idea.
These are 4 things which are the main
ideas in Situation Ethics and you should
try to include at least 3 in your essay if
asked about the main features/principles

Situation ethics is good as
it is always what works for
the best.
No matter what the
situation, going with what
is the most loving thing can
only lead to more good
than bad
Love is the only thing that is
relevant to all situations
unlike laws which work for
some things but not others.
Situation Ethics uses 1
principle so is easy to
remember

Love needs commitment. We
need to decide for love
before we can follow the
path of love. Moral
decisions are like faith
decisions – “a leap of faith
is involved”.
Situation Ethics puts human
beings and their concerns at
the centre of morality unlike
laws and rules which often
seem to be detrimental to a
person’s wellbeing. This
follows Jesus’ example.

Q: What does agape mean?
A: Christian sacrificial love for one another and the stranger
Q: Name the 4 parts of the 4 Working Principles
A: Pragmatism, relativism, personalism, positivism
Q: What is Fletcher’s main quote on the essence of
Situation Ethics?
A: “The morality of an action depends on the situation”
Q: What is personalism?
A: The idea that people should come before rules, as demonstrated
and taught by Jesus in the New Testament – see the Parable of the
Good Samaritan.

As far as Fletcher and Robinson (at first) was
concerned Situation Ethics was a Christian ethic
based on the teachings of Jesus.
In the Bible Jesus had many discussions with the
Pharisees over old morality (the strict
application of Torah law / legalism) versus new
morality (Jesus’ idea of how the law should be
applied).

1. The adulterous woman - Jesus prevents a woman
being stoned even though the law allowed her to be.
This is evidence of personalism too.
2. Jesus and the Sabbath Day – Jesus also confronted
the Pharisees over what the day was intended for. In
order to follow strict Jewish law absolutely nothing
could be done on this day, often to the detriment of
people. Jesus wanted people to follow the spirit in
which God had given the law rather than following it to
the letter and acting immorally in some cases
3. Jesus commented on the divorce law – He said that
the divorce law had been given as a response to man’s
“sinful nature” but now people had evolved and should
not need to be told what to do now. This is in line with
Robinson’s “man come of age” idea

These are 6 things which spell out what agape is
and relate closely to Biblical teaching on what
Christian love should be.
For the exam you only really need to use 1 or 2 of
these.

The 6
Fundamental
Principles
1. Love only is always good
Actions are only good if they
help humans (showing love
for one another) and they are
bad if they hurt people.
2. Love is the only norm
Jesus and St Paul replaced the Torah with
the principle of love, in the past Christians
have broken the 10 Commandments in
order to do the right thing e.g. Bonhoeffer
tried to kill Hitler
3. Love and justice are
the same, and love is
justice distributed
Love and justice can not
be separated.
4. Love wills the neighbour's
good, whether we like him or
not.
Your neighbour is anybody and
agape love goes out to everyone
5. Love is the only means
When weighing up a situation, one must
consider what you want the outcome to be
and what you need to do to get there.
Fletcher said the end must be the most
loving thing
6. Love decides there
and then
Whether something is
right or wrong depends
on the situation and can’t
be pre-determined

 Try to use Fletcher’s examples if you can in your work, rather
than your own. Don’t forget to talk about them as well, they
shouldn’t just be stuck in randomly
 Never write out the whole story, just refer to it. For example
Fletcher used the example “Sacrificial Adultery”
where a POW woman debates on whether to have
commit adultery in order to be released and sent
back to her family.
The point Fletcher was making was that surely it was the best
thing (the most loving thing) for the mother to break the
Commandment “Do not commit adultery” in order to get
home to her children. This has to be the most loving thing for
her and all even though it breaks one of God’s
commandments. Surely God would not think this immoral as
this is not why he gave that particular law in the first place?

 It is an attempt to link Christianity with new
morality for ‘man come of age’
 It focus’ on Jesus’ dialogue with the Pharisees
about the application of legalistic rules
 It is the rejection of absolute rules as it solves
moral dilemmas situationally and
circumstantially
 It focus’ on positivism and personalism

These come from 2 main camps:

Roman Catholics are guided by NATURAL LAW – the
proper purpose of human beings, and what the Bible
teaches.
Pope Pius XII banned Situation Ethics from being discussed
at RC seminaries.
In 1952 Pope Pius XII called situation ethics ‘an
individualistic and subjective appeal to the concrete
circumstances of actions to justify decisions in
opposition to the natural law or God’s revealed will’.
So in other words he said that it was wrong to break God’s
laws

Situation ethics is
subjective
because decisions
are made from
within the situation
as it is perceived to
be.
Situation ethics could
prove unworkable
because it isn’t
easy to determine
all the
consequences of
an action.
It is individualistic because humans see things from their own
perspective.
There is a danger that the ideals of unconditional love may be
polluted by a selfish human tendency and people using it as an
excuse for not obeying the rules. How many parents can show equal
love to strangers as to their own children?
This argument made Robinson withdraw his support for Situation Ethics
Situation ethics
seems to be
prepared to
accept any action
at all if it fits the
required criteria.
What is believed to
be a loving end by
some could justify
actions that many
people would
regard as wrong.
Pius XII

It wasn’t just the Roman Catholic Church who was opposed to
Situation Ethics. Other Christians put forward Biblical justification of
how Fletcher had got it wrong:
St. Paul continued Jesus’ mission after his death instructing new
churches setting up as far as Greece. In Romans 13:9-10 he says:
9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder,"
"Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment
there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbour
as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbour.
Therefore love is the fulfilment of the
law.”
So according to St Paul, people do need to follow God’s
laws in order to follow Jesus’ teaching on how agape is
distributed

1. Barclay said the examples Fletcher used to illustrate situation
ethics are extreme cases. He asked how often people had to make
life and death decisions on which situation ethics seemed to be based?
He said: “It is much easier to agree that extraordinary situations
need extraordinary measures than to think that there are no
laws for ordinary life.” (Ethics in a Permissive Society, 1971)
2. He said that the suggestion that laws could be abandoned if
needed was too optimistic. Humans needs laws for protection etc
and how would people know exactly when it was “the most loving thing” to
abandon them? A circumstance to one, may not be to another.
3. He argued that it is hard for individuals to make their own moral
decisions in every situations. We can be swayed by emotion or fear
and persuade ourselves that we are doing the most loving thing when
really we are doing the thing that suits ourselves the most.

Overall strengths
1. That it provides a clear alternative to
Christian ethics that is consistent to the
Jesus represented in the Gospels. SOme
would argue that it is more in line with
Jesus’ teachings than following ALL the
rules in the Bible
2. Situation ethics is flexible and practical. It
takes in to account how complex human
life is and can make tough decisions
when, from a legalistic stance, all actions
seem wrong.
3. It is easy to understand: you follow a
single principle
4. You don’t have to follow a conventional
rule, if that goes against your deepest
sense of what love requires.
5. It is based on love, which, rationally as
well as emotionally, is a key feature of all
moral systems.
Overall weaknesses
1. It is subjective – we don’t always have the
fact to make a sound decision
2. It is individualistic – what is the most loving
thing to one, is not to another
3. It is prepared to accept any actions as long
as the outcome is supposed to be loving
4. It is inconsistent with some teachings in the
Bible
5. How often do we face extreme cases where
it is obvious what the most loving thing is?
People need to be practical and Fletcher’s
illustrations aren’t relevant for most people
6. People need laws and rules to spell out
behaviour in order to keep us all safe and
singing from the same song sheet
7. People would mean to do the most loving
thing but our personal preferences and
wants will always get in the way

1. Give 3 reasons why Situation Ethics could be
seen as a Christian ethic
2. Give 1 of Fletcher’s examples of Situation Ethics
and explain the point of it
3. Give 3 strengths of Situation Ethics
4. Give 3 weakness’ of Situation Ethics
5. Why did Pope Pius XII oppose situation ethics in
1952?