1. Situation Ethics Lesson 2
Specification content Fletcher’s rejection of other approaches within ethics: legalism, antinomianism and the role of conscience Fletcher’s rational for using the religious concept of ‘agape’

2. Hangman
Think of 5 ‘ethical’ key words that you read in the Fletcher extract Give to me I will swap them Play hangman with your partner The first pair to complete all the words wins

3. Joseph Fletcher ( )
Joseph Fletcher was born in 1905 and died in 1991 at the age of 86 – he was an American.
Joseph was an Anglican priest. He left the priesthood due to his beliefs in things like euthanasia and abortion.
His most well known book is called Situation Ethics and has a predominantly Christian flavour to it.
He taught Christian Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Harvard Divinity School from 1944 to He was the first professor of medical ethics at the University of Virginia and co-founded the Program in Biology and Society there. He retired from teaching in 1977.
He later renounced his belief in God

4. Who was Joseph Fletcher?
Born 1905, New Jersey USA
West Virginia University, Berkeley Divinity School (Yale), Yale University and London School of Economics.
Ordained into the Episcopal Church of America (Anglican)
Wrote “The Church and Industry” (1930)
Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Cincinnati ( )
Lectured in Christian Ethics & Business Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University ( )
Accused of supporting communism during McCarthy witch-hunts
Wrote “Morals and Medicine” (1954), “William Temple” (1963), “Situation Ethics” (1966), “The Ethics of Genetic Control” (1974)
Lost his faith during this period – became a humanist…
Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Virginia ( )
President of the Euthanasia Society of America ( )
Died 1991

5. Joseph Fletcher
Priest turned Professor
Theist turned humanist

6. The hero of Fletcher’s book – the St Louis cabbie – Vardy and Grosch 124
The cab driver said to Fletcher’s friend … ‘I and my father and grandfather before him, and there fathers, have always been straight-ticket republicans.’ ‘Ah’ said Fletcher’s friend ‘I take it you will vote Republican as well?’ ‘No’ said the driver, ‘there are times when you have to put your principles aside and do the right thing.’ What does this mean?

7. The rich man and young woman example from Fletcher’s book (page 17)
A rich older man asks a young woman to have sex with him. For 100,000 For 10,000 For 500 Is it ever acceptable? Another question – why is it her actions that are questioned by Fletcher, not his?

8. Situation Ethics (1966)
In his book Situation Ethics Fletcher argued that there are three approaches in making moral decisions: the legalistic, the antinomian, the situational approach

9. Legalism
Legalism – The legalistic approach is the one that has set rules and never wants to change them: ‘Legalism enters every situation loaded down with ready made rules and regulations’.
Activities
For example – once murder has been prohibited what would you have to clarify?
Check your DIL notes
What is legalism? Complete the questions on your sheet
Complete activity 4 – Why did Fletcher reject legalism?

10. Questions from Fletcher
Legalism
What does legalism mean?
What problems did Fletcher identify in legalistic religions?
Judaism – too complicated – pilpul – study of the law
Catholic – resorts to casuistry – making exceptions. Catholic – legalistic reason, based on natural law, applying human reason to the facts of nature
Protestant – too rigid and puritanical, blind to real life e.g. middle age punishments. Protestant – legalistic revelation, based on scripture not reason
3. What was Russell’s judgement on Christianity?
Christianity is more critical of an adulterer who lies to one than a politician who lies to many and does ‘a thousand times as much harm’
4. Write a summary of the Mrs X example.
Daughter had unwanted babies
Mrs X advised her to use contraception
Church criticised Mrs X

11. Antinomianism
Antinomianism is the opposite of legalism. Literally, it means ‘against law’ and means behaving totally without principles: ‘One enters into the decision-making situation armed with no principles or maxims whatsoever’.
Activities
Think of an example of antinomian ethics
In your notes
What is antinomianism?
Complete activity 5 – why did Fletcher reject it?

12. Questions from Fletcher Antinomianism
What is antinomianism?
Decision making with out principles or maxims or rules. Every situation is different. First used by Luther.
It is opposed to law
2. Explain libertinism
Libertinism – due to faith in Christ rules do not apply to Christians
3. What was the gnostic approach?
Gnostic claim to special knowledge – principle and rules are no longer needed as they would just know what was right. They had a superconscience. There decisions were random, unpredictable, erratic, spontaneous
Some antinomians claim they have a special ‘radarlike’ ‘faculty’ to help with decision making.
 4. Why did St Paul disagree with the antinomians in Corinth and Ephesus? St Paul objected to antinomians in Corinth and Ephesus – they rejected all rules and some claimed to be guided by the Holy Spirit

13. Summary tasks
Read and complete the activities on pages 6 and 7 of booklet 1 Complete the key word list on page 2

14. Which is more effective?
Some of these stories display a LEGALISTIC approach to ethics, others display an ANTINOMIAN approach.
Discussion/Writing task:
What is each story about?
Which approach do the people display?
Do you think this approach is paving the way for a moral society?
What are the problems with this approach?

15. Which is more effective?
Legalism

16. Summary
When the Church give lots of rules for it’s adherents, this is called ‘LEGALISM’
When society has no rules to obey, and what someone does is based merely on the situation and intuition, this is called ‘ANTINOMIANISM’
Can we think of examples in our society today where antinomianism and legalism can be seen.

17. Situational approach
To Fletcher, Situation Ethics is the correct middle position between these extremes: ‘Situation recognises one law or principle, one absolute norm, namely love.’ He goes on to say ‘Situation Ethics is the responsible self deciding whether rules serve love or not. This is the situational strategy in capsule form’.

18. Abortion: A situation
Read pages of Fletcher’s book Answer the questions on page 10

19. Fletcher’s ideas on the role of conscience – Vardy
Tradition views about the conscience that Fletcher rejected
Fletcher’s ideas about the conscience
‘An innate, radar-like, built in faculty – intuitionism’
‘Inspiration from outside the decision maker – Holy Spirit’
‘The internalised value system of the culture and society’
‘Reason making moral judgements or value choices.’
 Read Vardy and Grosch page 127 and complete this table on page 11 of your booklet

20. Situation ethics
Most commonly associated with Joseph Fletcher and J. A. T. Robinson, emerged at a time when society and the Church were facing drastic and permanent change.

21. When Fletcher wrote Situation Ethics in 1966, both the USA and the UK had witnessed a series of highly significant events that had changed the shape and direction of the latter half of the 20th century.