ipl-logo

Joseph Fletcher Situation Ethical Analysis

1643 Words7 Pages

What is Situation Ethics? Situation Ethics was popularized by Joseph Fletcher around 1960s to 1970s. It claims that the morality of an act depends on the context rather than absolute moral standards. The situation is defined as “…the relative weight of the ends and means and motives and consequences all taken together, as weighed by love” In short, the absolute truth in Situation Ethics is “love”. Furthermore, if there is a right or wrong, it would be determined based on the desired result of the situation. Love is the supreme moral principle for Situation Ethics. Joseph Fletcher had six propositions that explains on what it means, and how to live situationally with only one absolute truth: Love. These six propositions would determine whether …show more content…

Love is not based on emotion but on the will. While in other types of love such as Eros, the cause of love is desire, in agape love, love is the cause of desire. Furthermore, Fletcher made a comparison between erotic love and agape love. Erotic love is mere egoistic and selfish. It means that they only do a certain action to reach their own personal desire. On the other hand, Agape love, is altruistic, meaning a person will give even there is nothing in return. For this reason, loving the neighbor does not even mean pleasing them or us. It is our will to love others whether they please us or …show more content…

However, is this type of “love” similar from what the Bible teaches, or is it different? Two of the many flaws that can be seen in Fletcher’s Situation Ethics are: his views of love as the only moral principle; and failure to address the central purpose of human beings. First, Fletcher’s view of love is not far from the truth—Jesus commanded us to “love one another” (Mark 13:30-31). Second, Fletcher ignored the first command by Jesus – “…and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark

Show More
Related
643 Words | 3 Pages

Love is a concept missing from the majority of the book. The word love is mentioned numerous times but is not meaningful until Equality and Liberty bond over the understanding of the word and how they share the feeling of love with each other. When the word love is mentioned in chapters 1-10, it is used as a way of life, in the way that you are meant to love your brothers and the society you live in without question. It is not until chapter 11 when Equality realizes the importance of the word and how it is you who chooses the ones you love. In Equality’s words, “I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey.”

Read More
1077 Words | 5 Pages

Jesus meant what he said when he instructed us to, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). It’s easier to love someone that we are comfortable around, someone that looks, smells, acts, and talks like us. However, Jesus’ ministry was about being uncomfortable, and getting outside of our comfort

Read More
868 Words | 4 Pages

The novel, Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey, is the story of Charlie Bucktin, a thirteen-year-old and his struggle to face the fact that he helped Jasper Jones, the town’s troublemaker, cover up the death of Laura Wishart. The novel, Jasper Jones has a literary quality which is visible through multiple themes and issues. Through personal context, different issues and themes such as racism, dishonesty, and physical abuse, have challenged and affiliated my personal beliefs while reading the novel. The idea of physical abuse is the most against my personal context, as I do not believe in such a thing.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

Equality 7-2521 for example, when he says “If it shall be death, we shall die with you.” He said this to a girl that he loves, even though it is forbidden. This shows the love Equality has for her. That concludes love and

Read More
272 Words | 2 Pages

In William Tyndale’s translation of 1 Corinthians 13, he favored the term “love” over the term “charity,” starting with the sentence “And though I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor… and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing” (Greenblatt 389). This was a controversial choice on Tyndale’s part for various reasons. “Charity” was a Catholic term used in the Douay-Rheims version and the King James version of the Bible, and was thought to be a gesture “toward the religious doctrine of ‘works,’ against the Protestant insistence on salvation by faith alone” (Greenblatt 388). Professor Morna Hooker from the University of Cambridge does an analysis of Tyndale’s choice of “love” over “charity” in her lecture “Tyndale as Translator.”

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

The Roman Catholic Church believes that people who died in the love of God will meet the tripersonal God and live with Him in the beauty of heaven. But if people push away God’s saving love they go to Hell and are permanently separated from God. They believe that if man loves God and their neighbor then they don’t go to hell. The need to show love to ones neighbor shows the Catholic’s use of good

Read More
473 Words | 2 Pages

This article on ethics was really interesting and a dilemma that is prevalent within criminal justice. In the article Dr. Steven Davis recognized that students cheating in high school increased by 20% in the 1940 to 75% today. Davis stated, "If students lack ethics in high school and college, then there should be little surprise that they lack ethics in their careers. (2008). " This observation by Davis holds some value, because individuals that is willing to cheat to get ahead, definitely has no problem crossing ethical lines, because in their mind the wrong is acceptable, just as it was when they cheated.

Read More
337 Words | 2 Pages

Love has such a vast number of roles that it plays and everyone of them traces back to love. There is no one emotion, no one effect that love plays. The best way to show how love works is first to wonder what it can do. One aspect of love is forgiveness because it is generous, merciful and graceful.

Read More
1231 Words | 5 Pages

How to Live According to Irving Singer Throughout Irving Singer acclaimed trilogy, The Nature of Love, the viewer can observe how he unveils rich insight into fundamental aspects of human relationships through literature, the complexities of our being, and the history of ideas. In his sequel, The Pursuit of Love, Singer approaches love from a distinct standpoint; he reveals his collection of extended essays where he presents psychological and philosophical theories of his own. The audience can examine how he displays love as he systematically maps the facets of religion, sexual desire, love from a parent, family member, child or friend. Irving explores the distinction between wanting to be loved and wanting to love another, which ultimately originates from the moment an individual is born.

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

1. What was the ethical dilemma that John Q faced in this movie? John Q a factory worker faces one of the worst parental situations. His son is going to die if he does not get a heart transplant as soon as possible. Once a man that tightens tightly to morality is now on the edge of what it seems ethical and unethical.

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

A valiant knight who rides his noble steed while a damsel dreams for the one who will rescue her. This plot which continually inspired modern works started during the medieval era and was known as the courtly love. Many historians have analyzed how the courtly love ideal was formed. From the several factors that could have influenced the creation of this ideal, this essay presents how courtly love was a product of the sociological aspects but not the religious aspects of medieval culture. The different sociological factors surrounding medieval society helped form the idea of courtly love.

Read More
1499 Words | 6 Pages

The Seven Rays Theory, although esoteric in itself, contains the basic elements of the incarnation of the powers of consciousness. In other words, it is a psychological profile done from a spiritual perspective. The diagram illustrates the disposition of the seven rays or basic motivations (strength types) of a human psyche. THE SEVEN RAYS

Read More
1173 Words | 5 Pages

The world has always been full of hatred, war, and strife, but the one thing holding us together is love. One of the main concepts of happiness is being loved and loving others. In my 17 years of living, I have seen and experienced love on multiple occasions. The love a couple has for each other. A love of God.

Read More
1254 Words | 6 Pages

When the grandmother reaches out to touch The Misfit in her "moment of grace" and says to him, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (366). She seems to be filled with love and understanding towards him. Her moment of grace allows her to see the Misfit as a fellow human being in pain and feels obligated to love him, just like the Bible asks you to: “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

Read More

More about Joseph Fletcher Situation Ethical Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document