proposition Love wills the neighbour's good, whether we like him or not. Fletcher (1966, p. 103) illustrates that agape is not an emotion as it sometimes involves sacrifice, we must thus love not expecting anything in return. Fifth proposition Only the end justifies the means, nothing else. Actions only acquire moral status as a means to an end; for Fletcher, the end must be the most loving result. When measuring a situation, one must consider the desired end, the means available, the motive for acting and the foreseeable consequences. Fletcher (1966, p. 120) thus, you must recognise that anything may be done if it brings about the most loving outcome. Sixth proposition Love's decisions are made situationally, not prescriptively. Fletcher (1966, p. 134) - nothing is inherently right or wrong, everything should be done according to the most loving thing specific to the situation. Examples Fletcher proposed various examples of situations in which the established moral laws might need to be put on hold in order to achieve the greater amount of love. These were based upon real situations. Himself Might his Quietus Make Pragmatism, positivism, relativism and personalism are the four working principles which mean to be reasonably sure the act you take will work and provide the most loving consequence, accepting Situational Ethics as a matter of faith and not reason, each situation must be relative to love and bring about the most loving result and finally the needs of people come first rather than a set of rules. Special Bombing Mission No. 13 Christian Cloak and Dagger These situations were criticised as being extreme. Joseph Fletcher agreed that they were, as general guidelines should apply in normal cases, with exceptions for extreme cases. Criticism Philosopher Mortimer J. Adler, in his autobiography, characterized situation ethics as a "half-baked theory of conduct aired during the early sixties. It is morally wrong." Some have argued that it is not a true Christian ethic, as it ignores absolute moral commands in its emphasis on the concept of agape. See also Illegalism References External links Situation ethics (contextualism), on John Dewey and James Hayden Tufts (1922), and Fletcher (1995) "Situational Ethics, Social Deception, and Lessons of Machiavelli" (2004) Dewey's Moral Philosophy (2005, revised 2014) Situational Ethics explained, evaluated and applied An introduction to Fletcher's Situational Ethics from rsrevision.com Situation Ethics Article Another overview and explanation of Fletcher's situational ethics. Christian ethics Relational