UNIT V - Lesson 16 - Love and Justice (Joseph Fletcher)

Situation ethics

posits that love is the absolute norm for determining whether an action is right or wrong. It tend to ask whether our actions was done as act of loving. Fletcher’s situational framework roots love in agape.

Erotic, Philia, Agape

Three types of love

Erotic

– constitutes passion

Philia

– the love felt between friends

Agape

– considered as the highest form of love and may be loosely translated as charity.

Justice

is just the minimum of love, is giving what is due by doing one’s own function according to Plato.

Social justice

– demands an equal access to wealth, opportunities and privileges within society.

Distributive justice

– concerned with the distribution or allotment of goods, duties and privileges in concert with the merits of individuals and the best interest of society.

love and justice framework

an action is morally right if it promotes justice.