situation ethics

situation ethics, in ethics and theology, the position that moral decision making is contextual or dependent on a set of circumstances. Situation ethics holds that moral judgments must be made within the context of the entirety of a situation and that all normative features of a situation must be viewed as a whole. The guiding framework for moral decision making is stated variously as that of acting in the most loving way, to maximize harmony and reduce discord, or to enrich human existence.

(Read Peter Singer’s Britannica entry on ethics.)

Situation ethics was developed by American Anglican theologian Joseph F. Fletcher, whose book Situation Ethics: The New Morality (1966) arose from his objections to both moral absolutism (the view that there are fixed universal moral principles that have binding authority in all circumstances) and moral relativism (the view that there are no fixed moral principles at all). Fletcher based situation ethics on the general Christian norm of brotherly love, which is expressed in different ways in different situations. He applied this to issues of doctrine. For example, if one holds to the absolute wrongness of abortion, then one will never allow for abortion, no matter what the circumstances within which the pregnancy occurs. Fletcher held that such an absolute position pays no attention to the complexity and uniqueness of each situation and can result in a callous and inhumane way of dealing with the problem. On the other hand, if there are no principles at all, then the decision is reduced to nothing more than what one decides to do in the moment, with no real moral implications involved. Rather, Fletcher held, within the context of the complexities of the situation, one should come to the most loving or right decision as to what to do.

Fletcher’s view was influential in Christian communities both in America and Europe for decades, reaching its peak in the 1980s, after which it began to wane. His ethical framework bore strong affinities with the version of pragmatism proposed by the American philosopher, social reformer, and educator John Dewey, who characterized his position as “instrumentalism.” In Dewey’s framework, moral principles are tools or instruments that are used because they work in resolving the conflicts within complex situations in the most harmonious way for all those involved. These principles are experimental hypotheses that are constantly subject to ongoing verification or revision by the demands of the unique conditions of experience. This view is opposed to the absolutist understanding of fixed rules as inherently valid and universally applicable to all situations, there being no exceptions. It also is opposed to the relativist understanding that there are no normative guidelines but only individual judgments concerning particular cases and that there is no moral justification for evaluating one moral claim as being actually superior to another.