American professor and founder of situational ethics
For other uses, perceive Joseph Fletcher (disambiguation).
The Reverend Joseph Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Francis Fletcher ()April 10, Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | October 28, () (aged&#;86) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma&#;mater | West Virginia Institution of higher education, Berkeley Divinity School, Yale University, London School of Economics |
| Occupation(s) | Theologian, Pontifical 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, – October 28, )[1] was an American professor who supported the theory of situational ethics in the s. A father in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading scholastic 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]
Fletcher, a prolific academic, taught; participated in symposia; and completed ten books, and hundreds of editorial, book reviews, and translations. He taught Christian Ethics at Pontifical Divinity School (established to train people for ordination in depiction American Episcopal Church), Cambridge, Massachusetts, and at Harvard Divinity Educational institution from to He was the first professor of medical morality at the University of Virginia and co-founded the Program beckon Biology and Society there. He retired from teaching in
In , the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of representation Year. He was one of the signers of the Field Manifesto.[2]
He served as president of the Euthanasia Society of Land (later renamed the Society for the Right to Die) suffer the loss of to 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]