Fletcher's Six Propositions

"Only one thing is intrinsically good; namely, love: nothing else at all."

What It Means

• Intrinsically good = good in itself, good for its own sake, good regardless of context
• Love is the only thing that is intrinsically good
• Everything else has conditional value—it's good only if it helps bring about love, bad if it hurts people

Key Points

• Love is always good—nothing can make love bad
• Love is not made good by anything else—it's just good, full stop
• Actions are good/evil depending on how far they promote the most loving outcome

Fletcher's Implication

Because love is the only intrinsic good, actions like lying, stealing, or even killing have no inherent moral status. They only become good or evil depending on whether they serve love.

"The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else."

What It Means

• The most important commandment is to love God and "love thy neighbour"
• Love replaces all other laws as the basis for ethical decision-making
• There is only one law—maximise love

Biblical Basis

Jesus said the greatest commandment is: "Love the Lord your God... and love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39). Fletcher interprets this to mean: all other rules exist only to serve love.

Fletcher's Quote

"The situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love's need."

Key Point

By "love," Fletcher means agape—"good will at work in partnership with reason". It's an attitude, not a feeling or desire.

"Love and justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else."

What It Means

• Many people think justice and love are separate (or even competing) values
• Fletcher says they're identical—"Love is justice, justice is love"
• Justice = how love is distributed among people

Fletcher's Logic

• To act justly is precisely to act lovingly
• To distribute resources fairly is to distribute love fairly
• There's no tension between justice and love—they're the same thing

Practical Application

The agapeic calculus: aim for "the greatest amount of neighbour welfare for the largest number of neighbours possible". This is like utilitarianism's "greatest happiness"—but with love instead of happiness.

"Love wills the neighbour's good whether we like him or not."

What It Means

• Jesus commanded us to love our neighbour no matter who they are
• This includes people we don't like, people who are enemies, people who don't deserve it
• Agape is in the business of "loving the unlovable"

Key Distinction

• Liking someone is a feeling you can't control
• Loving someone (agape) is a choice you make—willing their good
• You can love someone without liking them

Application

Even towards enemies, agape insists: "however we rate them, and whether we like them or not, they are our neighbours and are to be loved."

"Only the end justifies the means, nothing else."

What It Means

• This is Fletcher's consequentialism
• An action considered independently of its consequences is "meaningless and pointless"
• Actions only acquire moral status as a means to an end

The End Must Be Love

• The end goal must be the most loving outcome
• If the consequence is the most loving possible, the action is justified
• It doesn't matter what the action is—lying, stealing, killing—if it maximises love, it's right

Fletcher's Criteria

When evaluating a situation, consider:

• The desired end (most loving outcome)
• The means available
• The motive for acting
• The foreseeable consequences

Controversial Implication

This means any action can potentially be justified if it produces the most love. Fletcher gives extreme examples: killing a baby to save a family, abortion, euthanasia.

"Love's decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively."

What It Means

• Ethical decisions should not be made in advance according to fixed rules
• Love responds to each situation uniquely
• Nothing is inherently right or wrong—everything depends on what's most loving in that particular situation

No Governing Rules

• There are no fixed laws to guide decisions
• In each context, the right action is the one that brings the most loving outcome

Fletcher's Approach

• You shouldn't enter ethical situations with pre-made decisions
• You must assess the specific situation and decide there and then what love requires

Fletcher's Example

A woman in Arizona learned she might bear a baby with severe defects because she had taken thalidomide. What should she do? The law said all abortions are wrong. But Fletcher says: the loving decision was not given by the law—it must be decided situationally.

The Logic of Situation Ethics

The Flow:

1. Only love is intrinsically good (Proposition 1)
2. Therefore, love is the only ruling norm (Proposition 2)
3. Justice reduces to love—love distributed (Proposition 3)
4. Love extends to everyone, even enemies (Proposition 4)
5. Actions are judged by outcomes—the end justifies the means (Proposition 5)
6. No fixed rules—decide situationally (Proposition 6)

The Result

• Love is the only absolute
• Everything else (rules, laws, principles) is relative to love
• Rules can be broken if love requires it