Joseph Fletcher

This informative book by and about Joseph Fletcher provides a vivid overview of this very influential man who - through his warmth, support, loyalty, and inspiration - changed the course of American ethics and pioneered the field of bioethics. In his highly debated book Situation Ethics: The New Morality, Fletcher garnered wide attention by advocating a methodology for decision making (based on the principle of love) that presupposed individual responsibility and declared that every person must decide for himself or herself what is right. From this premise he inferred that any act - even lying, premarital sex, abortion, adultery, or murder - could be right, depending on the circumstances. Highlighted here are the thoughts of three ethicists on Fletcher. Kenneth Vaux examines Fletcher's Essays on Humanhood, where Fletcher offered qualities that would constitute the presence of a person with protectable humanhood. Vaux notes the tension between the humanism and the theism of Fletcher's early training and his provocative later work. Albert Jonsen conrasts traditional moral decision making with Fletcher's situationalism. Nurse-ethicist Mary Faith Marshall shows the professional relevance of such person- and case-based work for clinical ethics. The book concludes with a delightful and candid memoir (extracted from Fletcher's diary) that chronicles the colorful life of this kindly and important man. A comprehensive bibliography is also included.