The first proposition is: ‘Only one thing is intrinsically good; namely love: nothing else at all.’ This particular proposition outlines the fact that according to situation ethics agape love is good in itself; without the application of love an action can neither be described as good or evil. An action can only be described as good or evil depending on the circumstance and consequence. This proposition explains that agape love shows purity.
The Second Propositions says: ‘The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else.’ This particular proposition is derived from the New Testament when Jesus replaced the Torah (Jewish holy book) with the principle agape. Jesus put this into practice when he made the decision to heal a sick person on the Sabbath day. This rejected the obligation that one must rest on the Sabbath day, showing that the Ten Commandments are not absolute and can be broken when love demands it. Therefore this proposition says that love should replace any moral code, religious or state law.
‘Love and Justice are the same, for justice is love distributed, nothing else.’ This is the third proposition and explains that love and justice cannot be separated and within Christianity ‘justice is Christian love using its head, calculating its duties, obligations, opportunities, resources … Justice is love coping with situations where distribution is called for.’ (Fletcher 1966) In other words we cannot act lovingly without an action also being fair on most or all parties.
The fourth proposition suggests that: ‘ Love wills the neighbours good, whether we like him or not.’ In other words this is repeating one of the Ten Commandments ‘Love thy neighbour.’ They both mean the same thing; both are referring to the principle of agape which is unconditional love rather than sentimental or erotic. It refers to the desire to do a good deed or bring something positive to someone else’s life. For example just smiling at the bus driver in the morning could be seen as a good deed because you may cheer up an otherwise taken for granted member of our community. Agape love includes acts such as these which are done by a person and yet they expect nothing in return. This particular proposition really sums up the whole of the theory of Situation Ethics.
The Fifth proposition explains the ‘Only the end justifies the means, nothing else.’ This proposition outlines the fact that Situation ethics is a teleological approach to ethics. This means that the bearer of a moral dilemma should not act before they have thought of the consequence certain actions may have. In the case of Situation Ethics an action would not be taken unless its consequence was the most loving outcome.
The sixth and final proposition is ‘Loves decisions are made situationally, not prospectively.’ This again has been derived by a teaching written in the New Testament that Jesus gave. The bible has always stated that adultery is wrong as outlined in the Ten Commandments. During the time Jesus was with us the penalty for such a crime was death. There was an instance however where both parties could not be proved of adultery and only the woman was condemned. Her punishment was to have stones thrown at her until she was dead. Jesus however said to her prosecutors that the first man to throw the stone should be that who has never sinned. None of the men threw the stones because they had all committed some sort of sin within their life and therefore the woman’s life was also spared. This shows us that each individual should be approached with a fresh mind and not based upon any rule but that of love.
The six fundamental propositions or principles give a clear indication that Fletcher’s theory was radical in its difference to the traditional form of Christian Ethics. The theory is relativistic in its approach towards ethics because within Situation Ethics an action is not intrinsically right or wrong until the result of a particular action is known. The theory is again very different as it does not ask a person to follow any written rule apart from the principle of agape love. It was particularly radical as it was written during the sexual revolution which explains this example that Fletcher gives in his book to explain the first proposition: ‘Whether any form of sex is good or evil depends on whether love is fully served’