Joseph Fletcher (1905–1991) was an American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s, and was a pioneer in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic involved in the topics of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics, and cloning. Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he later identified himself as an atheist.
Fletcher was a prolific professor, teaching, participating in symposia, and completing ten books, an...
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Joseph Fletcher (1905–1991) was an American professor who founded the theory of situational ethics in the 1960s, and was a pioneer in the field of bioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic involved in the topics of abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, eugenics, and cloning. Ordained as an Episcopal priest, he later identified himself as an atheist.
Fletcher was a prolific professor, teaching, participating in symposia, and completing ten books, and hundreds of articles, book reviews, and translations.
He taught Christian Ethics at Episcopal Divinity School, 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 served as president of the Euthanasia Society of America (later renamed the Society for the Right to Die) from 1974...
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