Joseph Fletcher

For other uses, see Joseph Fletcher (disambiguation).

The Reverend Joseph Fletcher
Born	Joseph Francis Fletcher (1905-04-10)April 10, 1905 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	October 28, 1991(1991-10-28) (aged 86) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	West Virginia University, Berkeley Divinity School, Yale University, London School of Economics
Occupation(s)	Theologian, Episcopal priest, educator, author
Employer(s)	Episcopal Theological School, Harvard University, University of Virginia
Known for	Situational ethics, biomedical ethics
Awards	Humanist of the Year

Joseph Francis Fletcher (April 10, 1905 – October 28, 1991)[1] was an American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s. A pioneer in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic proponent of the potential benefits of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics, and cloning. Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he later identified himself as an atheist.^[citation needed]

Life

Fletcher, a prolific academic, taught; participated in symposia; and completed ten books, and hundreds of articles, book reviews, and translations. He taught Christian Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School (established to train people for ordination in the American Episcopal Church), Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Harvard Divinity School from 1944 to 1970. He was the first professor of medical ethics at the University of Virginia and co-founded the Program in Biology and Society there. He retired from teaching in 1977.

In 1974, the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year. He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.[2]

He served as president of the Euthanasia Society of America (later renamed the Society for the Right to Die) from 1974 to 1976. He was also a member of the American Eugenics Society and the Association for Voluntary Sterilization.^[citation needed]

One of his children, Joseph F. Fletcher Jr., was a historian.^[citation needed]

Quotes

• “mercy killing” is justified for “an incorrigible ‘human vegetable,’ whether spontaneously functioning or artificially supported, [who] is progressively degraded while constantly eating up private or public financial resources in violation of the distributive justice owed to others.” Joseph Fletcher, “Ethics and Euthanasia,” in Horan and Mall, eds., Death, Dying, and Euthanasia, p. 301.
• "People [with children with Down's syndrome]... have no reason to feel guilty about putting a Down's syndrome baby away, whether it's "put away" in the sense of hidden in a sanitarium or in a more responsible lethal sense. It is sad; yes. Dreadful. But it carries no guilt. True guilt arises only from an offense against a person, and a Down's is not a person."[3]

Notable works

• 1954 Morals and Medicine N.J.: Princeton University Press.
• 1966 Situation Ethics: The New Morality, Philadelphia: Westminster Press. (translated into 5 languages)
• 1974 The Ethics of Genetic Control: Ending Reproductive Roulette. New York: Doubleday.

Notes

1. John R. Shook, Dictionary Of Modern American Philosophers, Vol. 1, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005, p. 803
2. "Humanist Manifesto II". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
3. Bard, Bernard; Joseph Fletcher (April 1968). "The Right to Die". The Atlantic Monthly: 59–64.

References

• Joseph Francis Fletcher Papers, The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Department of Historical Collections and Services, University of Virginia, with:
  • "Memoir of an Ex-Radical," Box 20: 29
  • "Recollections," Box 20: 31

External links

• Bibliography