Pope Paul VI Institute

1. Pope Paul VI Institute Principles of Morality, Double Effect and Cooperation By Fr. Edward J. Richard, MS, JD, DThM

2. Morality Part I-Fundamental Points Part II-Double Effect Part III-Cooperation in Evil

3. Part I - The Morality of Human Acts • CCC1749. Human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen in consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.

4. What good must I do? What is morality all about? There are numerous theories about what would constitute a good life; ex. Hedonist, epicurean, pragmatist, utilitarian, etc.

5. What good must I do? Our question is answered by the concept of the perfection of our human nature, with all its capacities, especially the inclination to truth and moral goodness. Our basic moral principle is “Do good; avoid evil” Good leads to happiness; evil is contrary to our nature. Then, how do we do that?

6. The Moral Life Human Being-as is Virtues The Goal of Human Life

7. Virtue • A habitual and firm disposition to do the good • Human and Supernatural • Characterized by • Promptness or readiness to act • Ease or facility in performing the action • Joy or satisfaction in its attainment

8. The Morality of Particular Actions • 1750 The Morality of human acts depends on: • --the object chosen; • --the end in view or the intention; • --the circumstances of the action.

9. The object A “good” towards which the will deliberately directs itself. It specifies the act of the will. The object is the result of “choice” in the will. Is the “good” which is the object of choice in conformity with our true end? It is extremely important to remember that we are thinking here of the moral order.

10. The Object Thus we are speaking of the moral object of an action and not merely the physical object or merely the physical act.

11. Physical Act Carnal Intercourse Killing Moral Object Fornication, adultery Murder Abortion euthanasia Moral Object

12. The Object Carnal intercourse has no specific identification in the moral order. But carnal intercourse between the unmarried is described by the moral term "fornication." What is meant by fornication makes it a moral object. The object answers the question, “What is one doing?” It is also clear that the object is the result of a choice about the means to achieve an outcome.

13. Teaching CrMFC • What does a CrM Practitioner do? • What is the object of the action? • One might want to see to avoid or achieve a pregnancy. The means one chooses is the object.

14. Intention- Why? • 1752 Intention resides exclusively in the acting subject. . . The end is the first goal of the intention and indicates the purposes pursued in the action. • 1753 But a good intention [a sincere desire to do good] does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered good or just.

15. Intention • The end does not justify the means. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil, that in itself, can be good (such as almsgiving). • One might have a legitimate intention of avoiding pregnancy, say for health reasons. • This intention does not justify the choice of immoral means.

16. The circumstances • 1754 The circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary elements of the moral act.

17. Circumstances They contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral goodness or evil of a human act. (the amount of a theft) They can also diminish or increase the agent's responsibility (such as acting out of fear of death).

18. Circumstances Circumstances of themselves cannot change the moral evil of acts themselves; they can make neither good nor right an action that is in itself evil.

19. Virtue and Good Action • Virtue helps us to do the good and avoid evil • How does virtue help us? What, Why, Circumstances (many possibilities,inc. consequences) HumanGood

20. Prudence • Prudence is the capacity to know how to pursue the good and avoid evil in every circumstance • It guides all of our virtues • In prudence we must judge that we are choosing the best means to achieve the good, with the intention of avoiding as much evil as possible

21. Choosing the Good • Following the moral path involves the use of all the virtues, under the guidance of Prudence, to make sure that good is chosen and evil is avoided • So morality is clearly a matter of will • We are talking about goods intended and foreseen evils

22. Part II - Principle of Double Effect • Here we have to look at the results of the act, even though we might not intend them. • When an action will have two effects, • one good one which is intended, and • another evil effect which is foreseen, not intended, but only permitted,

23. Double Effect • The intended effect, good or evil, is called “direct” • The unintended but foreseen effect is said to be “indirect” • They are both “voluntary”

24. Principle of Double Effect • The driver of a car swerves to avoid the pedestrian but sees that the car will hit the parked truck. • It is evident that the agent is in some way responsible for both effects. • It is the agent’s action (and a choice) which produces the two effects, and if he or she did not place the action, the evil effect would not materialize here and now.

25. Principle of Double Effect • Does right order (i.e., Do good and avoid evil, which must be preserved as a fundamental tenet of the natural law) demand that one refrain from the action; • if not, under what circumstances is such an action consonant with right order?

26. Two precepts of the Natural Law must be attended to: • One must not intend to do that which is evil. (negative precept) • One must prevent evil insofar as one can reasonably do so. (positive precept)

27. Principle of Double Effect • The Principle of Double Effect states that an action, good in itself, which has two effects--an intended good effect, and a foreseen, but not intended evil effect—is moral provided there is a just order between the intended good and the permitted evil.

28. Principle of Double Effect • A large number of moral questions are solved by the principle of double effect. • This can be an important question in most client-related issues. • You have a good action (teaching) with a good effect (knowledge which benefits health, morality, etc.)

29. Principle of Double Effect • Can one do the good of teaching CrMFC when the person intends to use the knowledge for an evil purpose? • To what extend does one need to avoid teaching a person who is going to use CrMFC to achieve an immoral end?

30. Principle of Double Effect • Double Effect is probably the more important principle (over cooperation) in most client-related issues. • You have a good action (teaching in conformity with moral law) with a good effect (knowledge which benefits health, morality, etc.) • A clinical, and effective transmission of a sound theology of the human body

31. Principle of Double Effect-Overview • 1. That the action, in itself, be good or at least indifferent • 2. That the good effect cannot be obtained in some equally expeditious way, without the concomitant evil • 3. That the evil effect be not directly willed, but only permitted. Under no condition can the action be even partially prompted by a desire for the evil effect. Otherwise the evil effect becomes a direct voluntary effect. • 4. That the evil effect be not a means to producing the good effect. Otherwise, the evil effect, like any other means, would be necessarily directly willed. • 5. That there be a right order between the good that is intended and the evil that is permitted.

32. The Parts of the Principle • The Action Must be Good in Itself • It is a fundamental rule of conscience that one may never do evil in order that good may come of it (see St. Paul) • The action, considered in itself, apart from the concomitant evil effect, must be morally good, or at least indifferent. • In teaching CrMFC services, this would not be an issue

33. The Parts of the Principle • Which Has Two Effects: • Good and Evil • Both the good and the evil effects are results of the action in question • Example: Someone could use the morally good information about fertility as part of a plan to achieve a pregnancy out of wedlock or to engage in fornication

34. The Parts of the Principle • Intended Good Effect- • the knowledge of CrMFC • is called the direct voluntary effect. • It is the good that determines the will • Example: The direct voluntary effect that determines the practitioner’s will is the desire to communicate morally good knowledge of fertility care principles

35. The Parts of the Principle • A Merely Permitted Evil Effect: • called the indirect voluntary effect: that is, although foreseen as an evil effect resulting from the action, it is no way an object of the act of the will. • Its connection with the will is indirect -- i.e., in that the act of the will does in some way cause the evil effect. • Ex., it is foreseen that someone could use this information for an immoral purpose

36. The Parts of the Principle • Just order (due proportion) Between the Intended Good and Foreseen Evil Effects • may licitly be placed that is, without moral guilt • provided there is a just order between the intended good and the permitted evil • Ex., The good of establishing a center and teaching CrMFC outweighs the potential foreseeable evil that others might engage in. It supports the Gospel of Life.

37. Just Order or Due Proportion • Truth about God; truth about creation (Highest; but always reasonable) • Common Good-Public safety; education • Individual Good of Life • One’s own: Suicide-no; martyrdom-yes. • One’s neighbor • Health and well-being including fertility • Totality-can sacrifice an organ or limb to save a life • Convenience, annoyance, minor issues of justice • We do not permit directly destroying a subordinate good for the sake of the greater, but we can allow the sacrifice, as in martyrdom or totality.

38. The Parts of the Principle • It would be contrary to right order to allow some serious damage as a secondary result of an action whose good effect would be relatively insignificant. • A matter of prudent human judgment.

39. The Parts of the Principle • Otherwise not Reasonably Attained: • If the good effect could be obtained in an equally expeditious and effective way, without the unintended evil effect, this must be done. • In that case there would be no just reason for permitting the evil effect. • Probably not a major issue here

40. Church’s position • Teach natural methods of fertility regulation as a means of combating the culture of death

41. Evangelium vitae • 88. All of this involves … the implementation of long-term practical projects and initiatives inspired by the Gospel. • Many are the means towards this end which need to be developed with skill and serious commitment. At the first stage of life, centers for natural methods of regulating fertility should be promoted as a valuable help to responsible parenthood, in which all individuals, and in the first place the child, are recognized and respected in their own right, and where every decision is guided by the ideal of the sincere gift of self. Marriage and family counseling agencies by their specific work of guidance and prevention, carried out in accordance with an anthropology consistent with the Christian vision of the person, of the couple and of sexuality, also offer valuable help in rediscovering the meaning of love and life, and in supporting and accompanying every family in its mission as the "sanctuary of life."

42. Principle of Double Effect-Summary • 1. That the action, in itself, be good or at least indifferent • 2. That the good effect cannot be obtained in some equally expeditious way, without the concomitant evil • 3. That the evil effect be not directly willed, but only permitted. Under no condition can the action be even partially prompted by a desire for the evil effect. Otherwise the evil effect becomes a direct voluntary effect. • 4. That the evil effect be not a means to producing the good effect. Otherwise, the evil effect, like any other means, would be necessarily directly willed. • 5. That there be a right order between the good that is intended and the evil that is permitted.

43. Part III Cooperation

44. Principles of Cooperation • Cooperation is understood to mean the participation of more than one person in the same immoral or criminal action. • Because someone could misuse knowledge of CrMFC we consider the question of cooperation • Varying degrees of association in a situation which is contrary to right order.

45. Principles of Cooperation • The responsibility of those who are the principal agents of sinful acts (the main actor) is not the issue • The question here is about those who participate in some way • Some principles are helpful in establishing the existence or degree of guilt.

46. Kinds of Cooperation • Different kinds of cooperation • Formal • Material

47. Formal or Material • The cooperation is either formal or material depending upon whether one intends the sin whose external commission one is aiding.

48. Formal Cooperation One takes part in the evil action and at the same time adopts the evil intention of the main actor.

49. Formal Cooperation • A practitioner who adopts the intention of the unmarried couple to use CrMFC to fornicate at will is guilty of formal cooperation.

50. Formal Cooperation • A CrMFCS Practitioner who agrees with an intention of a couple to use the knowledge she teaches them for IVF formally cooperates