Is this true?
Is the right thing
to do always the
most loving thing?
Give an EXAMPLE
to back up your
POINT.
EXTENSION:
Can you give a COUNTER
ARGUMENT to your own
point?
Joseph Fletcher
American Christian Minister
To use memory
recall, exam
questions, a real
life scenario,
and biblical
quotes to
understand the
Christian
principle of
Situation Ethics
Grade C
All will be able to use memory
recall to define and describe
what is meant by Situation
Ethics.
Grade B
Most will be able to explain the
concept of agape and apply
the principle of Situation
Ethics to making moral
decisions.
Grade A/A*
Some will be able to evaluate
and express an opinion on the
principle of Situation Ethics.
Finish the following sentence  LOVE IS...
In English we only have ONE word for LOVE that is often understood to
mean romantic love.
In Greek they have FOUR words for LOVE...
EROS – Passion, desire, romantic love.
STORGE – Love for your family.
PHILIA – Love for your friends.
AGAPE – The greatest love.
What do you think is meant by the
‘greatest love’?
Unconditional love- loving others as we love
ourselves, both friend and enemy.
To get to that grade B: Can you give at least one EXAMPLE of AGAPE?
Grade B
Most will be
able to
explain the
concept of
agape.
The principle of Situation
Ethics uses love (agape)
as a basis for all moral
decisions.
Listen and watch the
following slides
carefully...
You will be expected to use
your MEMORY to
DEFINE and DESCRIBE
what SITUATION
ETHICS is.
Situation Ethics is a
CHRISTIAN approach to
making moral decisions.
It was put forwards by JOSEPH
FLETCHER a Christian Minister in
the 1960’s during a time of great
social change.
Love should be
the only
consideration
when making a
moral decision.
A GOOD
decision is one
that aims to
do THE MOST
LOVING
THING.
The simple teachings of
JESUS...
My command is this: love
each other as I have loved
you (John 12:15)
A person should
only obey the
Bible and the
Church if that
teaching results
in the MOST
LOVING thing to
do.
Fletcher was clear
about what type of
love that should be
applied – AGAPE
(an attitude
towards people
rather than a
feeling).
Showing AGAPE
makes it possible
to love your
enemies and act in
loving ways towards
people who have
not done anything
to deserve love.
From memory
complete the
following on
your
worksheet...
WHAT?
WHO?
HE SAID...?
Complete PAGE 56 QUESTION
1 of your REVISION
WORKBOOK
complete WITHOUT NOTES
against the 2 minute clock.
Make a note of your time in the
margin.
EXTENSION: Also complete
question 2 within the 2
minute time limit
Now
SELF MARK
your work.
REMEMBER
2 MARKS for an
accurate
definition
1 MARK
partially correct
definition
Situation Ethics – The idea that Christians should base moral
decisions on what is the most loving thing to do.
0 MARKS
incorrect
The Golden Rule– The teaching of Jesus that you should treat others
as you would like them to treat you.
Grade C
All will be able
to use
memory recall
to define and
describe what
is meant by
Situation
Ethics
There are several verses in the New Testament that stress
the importance of love (agape) in making moral decisions...
‘Love your God with all your heart, and all your soul...and love your
neighbour as yourself’ (Luke 10:27)
‘Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends’(John 15:13)
‘And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of
his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has
commanded us’ (John 3:23)
Read the following scenario carefully…
Using the above quotes and the principle of Situation
Ethics (AGAPE) what do you think a Christian (who ONLY
USES SITUATION ETHICS to make moral decisions)
would do?
Grade B
Most will be
able to apply
the principle
of Situation
Ethics to
making moral
decisions.
During the Holocaust, a group of Jewish people hid in the sewers
of a German city as the SS police marched in the streets
overhead. Amongst the group there was a mother with her baby.
The woman’s baby began to cry. No matter what she did, the
mother could not get her baby to stop. If the baby continued to
cry , it was only a matter of time before the Nazis heard, and
then they would all be discovered.
Rather than risk the lives of everyone down there, she smothered
her baby to death with a blanket, and let the corpse float down
the sewer.
This was taken from the memoirs of a Holocaust survivor who
detailed how she escaped Nazi imprisonment.
Did the woman's actions follow the principle of Situation Ethics?
Was this the most loving action?
EXTENSION: Do you think that morally, this was the right course of
action?
Grade A/A*
Some will be
able to
express an
opinion on the
principle of
Situation
Ethics.
Complete the following...
YES
YES
Every situation is judged individually
rather than a blanket right or wrong e.g.
murder is wrong.
NO
NO
It is dependant on a person being able to
predict what will happen to determine
what is most loving, and this is
impossible.
It has a genuine Christian intention, of
In theory, anything (murder, adultery
which
the what
basis isyou
LOVE.
etc...)
could situation
be justified ethics
if the person
Use
have learnt today
about
to
felt it was the most loving thing to do.
EVALUATE whether you think it works as a moral code.
Acting out of LOVE is a positive thing, so It works in extreme cases but not in
it wouldOnce
bring positive
consequences.
we are used to
you have
some ideaseveryday
sharesociety
with where
a partner.
having rules and laws.
Complete PAGE 56 QUESTION
3 of your REVISION
WORKBOOK
PLEASE CHANGE ‘the Golden
Rule today TO ‘Situation Ethics’
So the question reads…
Do you think it is always possible
to apply Situation Ethics?
complete WITHOUT NOTES
against the 4 minute clock.
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/
Make a note of your time in the
margin.
Now SWAP and
PEER MARK
each others
work.
REMEMBER
mark on those P’s
and E’s and KW’s
and Q’s.
Give them a mark
out of 4 and a
clear TARGET.
Grade A/A*
Some will be
able to
evaluate and
express an
opinion on the
principle of
Situation
Ethics.
How would Situation Ethics be used to solve
the following dilemmas?
1. A 15-year-old girl is pregnant after being
raped, and is considering abortion.
2. A terminally ill man asks his wife to help
him commit suicide.
3. A man is considering committing adultery
on his wife who has Alzheimer's and
cannot remember him.