The Six Fundamental Propositions

The Six Fundamental Propositions

1. 1. Love is the only INTRINSIC good

   • nothing is good in or of itself except for LOVE.
   • Actions are GOOD if they help people
   • Action are BAD if hey hurt people
   • St. Augustine says, to know a man is good...
     • "one does not ask what he believes, or what he hopes, but what he LOVES"

2. 2. Love is the only NORM

   • Fletcher believes that Jesus replaced the old law in the Torah with LOVE or agape.
     • his claim was based on the reading of Mark 12:33
   • The MOST important commandment is to LOVE god
     • and your neighbour
   • Jesus didn't mention 4 things
     • Homosexuality, Birth control, Masturbation and Abortion

3. 3. Love and Justice are the SAME

   • Justice id giving every person what is their DUE
     • The one Thing Everyone is DUE is LOVE
   • SO LOVE AND JUSTICE ARE THE SAME
   • IF love is put into practise, it could only result in JUSTUCE
   • 'Justice is love distributed'
     • everyone deserves to be loved, justice can only follow from love

4. 4. Love is not necessarily LIKING, and wills the neighbours good

   • Love DESIRES the good of others
     • this is why AGAPE must be distinguished, from EROS and PHILIA
       • which naturally favors our LOVERS or our FRIENDS
   • love has no favourites
   • EXAMPLE, a teacher may not like his student, but he will still do what is good for them

5. 5. Love JUSTIFIES the means

   • the END justifies the means, nothing else
   • anything can be allowed if it brings about the most loving outcome
   • Fletcher SUBSTITUTES 'Love' in place of 'Happiness'
   • this is controversial because it means ANYTHING is allowed as long as the consequences of an action is the most loving thing
     • different people have different opinions about LOVE

6. 6. Love decides THERE and THEN

   • Decisions are made in the circumstances of the situation
   • whatever is the most loving thing to do DEPENDS on the situation
   • because there is no way of knowing in ADVANCE what is right or wrong
   • situationists have to be prepared to make every moral decisions afresh
     • there are no predetermined right/wrong answers to moral questions