moral agent must assess the motive, foreseeable consequence, desired result + means to obtain it
should always focused on the outcome being loving
stealing to feed a starving man would be accepted
must be selfless love, not selfish
lying:
SE response: unclear
similar response to theft
no actions intrinsically wrong
should spread agape love; lies focused on self-interest would be considered wrong
depends on situation, should serve the most loving end
embryo research:
SE response: permitted
direct love to beneficiaries, not ‘potential persons’
are embryos qualified under Fletcher's 10 principles of personhood?
designer babies:
SE response: permitted - if adequate controls are in place as allows humans to banish disease + improve the species
Fletcher believed humans are makers, selectors + designers
Fletcher would favour man-made hybrids for dull/dangerous roles
abortion:
SE response: unclear
agapeic calculus = number of lives saved e.g. Jew doctor aborted 3k women brought to concentration camps as if they were found pregnant, they would be killed
puts persons first before rules (personalism) + assesses foreseeable consequences
voluntary euthanasia; assisted suicide:
SE response: permitted
try to find rational, pragmatic + personal decision
cases must be judged by their own merits
Fletcher = “to prolong life uselessly… is to attack the moral status of a person”
capital punishment:
SE response: unclear
assess demands of love
no set rules
different views e.g. whether Jesus was a pacifist or not, would affect views on capital punishment
‘love’ for society as a whole could mean execution of innocent man to prevent greater harm
could create martyrs whose deaths inspire others: is this loving?
use of animals for food; intensive farming:
SE response: unclear
FOR: puts persons first = the spectacle of starving children is worse than the practice of intensive farming
AGAINST: maximises misery over love = intensive farming is a short-term solution to issue of starving; meat industry contributes to issue i.e. cattle consume 15x more grain than they produce as meat; more loving to abandon intensive farming in favour of more productive farming methods: pragmatic + treats animals as objects of loving concern
use of animals in scientific procedures [animal testing]; cloning:
SE response: permitted - however the need for adequate control of pain is emphasised
Fletcher = advocated for use of animals in scientific procedures as a means to the ends of human welfare + pragmatic way of saving human lives
most practical, effective + agapeic way of addressing the issue of human disease
blood sports:
SE response: prohibited
puts the interests of humans before animals in a case where human pleasure is gained at the expense of animal pain + suffering
may damage human character; leads to other forms of violence
fox hunting = agapeic? - foxes damage farming + conserve environment hunting is part of human character + more loving than factory farming
animals as a source of organs for transplant:
SE response: unclear
SE is directed at persons: for many animals do not qualify but this depends on individual view; personhood: minimumintelligence? self-awareness?
those who believe animals are persons will believe donors should be dead/consenting humans
those who believe animals aren’t persons will believe most loving thing would be for a transplant as it could save human life
currently humans are the only pragmatic source of donor organs: most loving thing would be to pursue other technologies as they are developed