FLETCHER'S 4 PRESUMPTIONS AND 6 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES APPLICATION

PRAGMATISM: A practical or success posture, the proposed course of action must work, and must work towards the end which is love. RELATIVISM: Situation Ethics is relativistic, avoids words such as 'never', 'perfect', 'always' as he avoids the plague, e.g. 'absolutely'. Agape should be applied in a way that is relative to each situation. POSITIVISM: Agape is accepted voluntarily through faith, and reason is then used to work out the practical application of that faith showing faith comes first. Moral choices must be vindicated by showing that they work and are based on commitment to agape love. PERSONALISM: The situationist puts people first because people are more sacred than rules. The command is to love people not laws or principles.

To use a condom would be more likely to save lives than not wearing one. HIV could be transmitted via sexual intercourse and could result in more death and upset. Therefore to use a condom would work towards a successive end as it would prevent poor life quality and prevent spreading illness.

In a sense to use a condom would not be relative to christian love because God demanded to 'be fruitful and reproduce', this would be acting against it as everyone was taught to procreate. Although it could be viewed in another way 'treat others as you would like to be treated, the golden rule would infer that by not using a condom you would be giving someone else a life threatening disease, which is an act someone would obviously not want to do.

To use a condom would result in a more probable positive end, HIV wouldn't be contracted, a baby wouldn't be born into poverty, it does take into account the faith as this would bring a more loving result than to bring an infected baby who would suffer into the world, although against it could go against someone's faith to use contraception as it is regarded as a sin. I would assume to use one would be more practical and broaden the concept of agape.

As people are to be put first to use a condom would benefit the people as again the risk of contracting HIV would be lowered, here it is acceptable to forget Christianity, it would increase human well-being as their assets are more important than following Christian rules excluding love, which would be exercised when using one.

These four presumptions would suggest that to use a condom would promote the most agape therefore be the right thing to do regarding condoms in Africa

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