Joseph Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Francis Fletcher (1905-04-10)April 10, 1905 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | October 28, 1991(1991-10-28) (aged 86) |
| Alma mater | West Virginia University,Berkeley Divinity School,Yale University,London School of Economics |
| Occupation(s) | Theologian,Episcopal 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, 1905 – October 28, 1991)[1] was an American professor who founded the theory ofsituational ethics in the 1960s. A pioneer in the field ofbioethics. Fletcher was a leading academic proponent of the potential benefits ofabortion,infanticide,euthanasia,eugenics, andcloning. Ordained as anEpiscopal priest, he later identified himself as anatheist.[2]
Joseph F. Fletcher was born inNewark, New Jersey on April 10, 1905. He graduated fromWest Virginia University and later attended theBerkeley Divinity School andYale University.[2]
Fletcher, a prolific academic, taught; participated in symposia; and completed ten books, and hundreds of articles, book reviews, and translations. He taughtChristian Ethics atEpiscopal Divinity School (established to train people for ordination in the AmericanEpiscopal Church),Cambridge, Massachusetts, and atHarvard Divinity School from 1944 to 1970. He was the first professor of medical ethics at theUniversity of Virginia and co-founded theProgram in Biology and Society there. He retired from teaching in 1977.[2]
In 1974, theAmerican Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year. He was one of the signers of theHumanist Manifesto.[3]
Fletcher grew to believe strongly in the right to die with dignity,[4] and he served as president of theEuthanasia Society of America (later renamed the Society for the Right to Die) from 1974 to 1976. He was also a member of theAmerican Eugenics Society and theAssociation for Voluntary Sterilization.[2]
Fletcher was active in social causes throughout his life, including labor rights. He supported theSouthern Tenant Farmers' Union and was assaulted on two occasions while lecturing in the South. During the McCarthy era, he was criticized by congressional committees and was labeled "the Red Churchman" bySenator Joseph McCarthy.[2]
In the late 1960s, Fletcher publicly renounced his belief in God and identified as a humanist, although he maintained relationships with religious organizations and clergy members.[2]
He was married to Forrest Hatfield Fletcher, who collaborated with birth control advocateMargaret Sanger. She died in 1988 after 60 years of marriage. Fletcher later married Elizabeth Hobbs Fletcher. He had one daughter, Jane Fletcher Geniesse, and a son,Joseph F. Fletcher Jr., who was aHarvard University historian.[5][2]
Fletcher died on October 28, 1991, at theUniversity of Virginia Medical Center inCharlottesville, Virginia, fromcardiovascular disease. He was 86 years old.[2]
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