Specification content Fletchers rejection of other approaches within ethics legalism antinomianism and the role of conscience Fletchers rational for using the religious concept of agape ID: 711476
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Situation Ethics Lesson 2" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Situation EthicsLesson 2
Specification contentFletcher’s rejection of other approaches within ethics: legalism, antinomianism and the role of conscienceFletcher’s rational for using the religious concept of ‘agape’Slide2
Hangman
Think of 5 ‘ethical’ key words that you read in the Fletcher extractGive to meI will swap themPlay hangman with your partnerThe first pair to complete all the words winsSlide3
Joseph Fletcher (1905-1991)
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 1970. 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 GodSlide4
Who was Joseph Fletcher?
Born 1905, New Jersey USAWest 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 (1936-1944)
Lectured in Christian Ethics & Business Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University (1944-1970)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 (1970-1983)
President of the Euthanasia Society of America (1974-1976)
Died 1991Slide5
Joseph Fletcher
Priest turned Professor Theist turned humanistSlide6
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?Slide7
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 100,000For 10,000For 500Is it ever acceptable?
Another question – why is it her actions that are questioned by Fletcher, not his?Slide8
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 approachSlide9
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 notesWhat is legalism? Complete the questions on your sheetComplete activity 4 – Why did Fletcher reject legalism?Slide10
Questions from Fletcher
LegalismWhat does legalism mean?
What problems did Fletcher identify in legalistic religions? Judaism – too complicated – pilpul – study of the lawCatholic – 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 XSlide11
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’.ActivitiesThink of an example of antinomian ethics
In your notesWhat is antinomianism?Complete activity 5 – why did Fletcher reject it?Slide12
Questions from Fletcher
AntinomianismWhat is antinomianism?Decision making with out principles or maxims or rules. Every situation is different. First used by Luther.
It is opposed to law2. Explain libertinismLibertinism – 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 SpiritSlide13
Summary tasks
Read and complete the activities on pages 6 and 7 of booklet 1Complete the key word list on page 2Slide14
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?Slide15
Which is more effective?
LegalismSlide16
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. Slide17
Situational approachTo 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’.Slide18
Abortion: A situation
Read pages 37-38 of Fletcher’s bookAnswer the questions on page 10Slide19
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 bookletSlide20
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.Slide21
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.