This document discusses different concepts related to morality and law. It defines law as an ordinance that exists for the common good, affirmed by legitimate authority. There are different types of law - eternal law from God, natural law written on the human heart, revealed law in scripture, and positive law made by authorities. For a civil law to be just, it must seek the common good, reflect equality, and align with natural law. The document also discusses degrees of morality based on act, intention, and circumstance. It introduces the principle of double effect to determine right action when good and bad results occur. Finally, it contrasts virtue-based ethics which judges actions as objectively right or wrong, versus moral relativism in systems like situation

1. MORALITY IN LAW AND
ACTION
Chapter 3

2. WHAT IS LAW?
• LAW = An ordinance of reason that exists for the common good
and is affirmed by legitimate authority through an official process.
• All just law finds its origin in the mind of God.
• The law SHOULD BE a communication of God’s divine plan.
• A true law is an ordinance of reason:
• NOT the whim of someone in authority
• Rather the result of reasoned deliberation
• To address the needs of the human person and society.

3. THE COMMON GOOD
• Laws exist for the common good.
• The common good has 3 essential elements:
• 1) Respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the
person.
• 2) Prosperity, or the development of the spiritual and temporal
goods of society.
• 3) The peace and security of the group and its members.
• - from the Youcat 326

4. ETERNAL LAW
• The plan of divine wisdom as directing all acts and
movements.
• This idea is developed from the ideas of ancient Greek
philosophers like Plato and Aristotle who reasoned that we must
have a Creator who gave order to the world.
• We witness the eternal law at work wherever we see evidence of
a divine hand giving order and harmony to what could be chaos.
• Every law is derived from God’s eternal law

5. NATURAL LAW
• The rational creature’s participation in the eternal law.
• Written on the heart of every human person is an innate sense of
order, an awareness of right and wrong.
• The natural law is universal, and sets mankind apart from all
creation.
• Unlike the physical laws of nature (water boils at 212 degrees F),
the natural law involves our personhood.
• Following the natural law is a free choice that exercises your mind
and your will.

6. NEW LAW (REVEALED LAW)
• The law as revealed by God, found in the Old
Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament.
• This law is infused by the love of the Holy Spirit. It
gives us the grace to live as Jesus wants us to
live.

7. POSITIVE LAW
• Positive law - any law that legitimate authority formulates to
govern a society.
• Two Types…
• Ecclesiastical Law , or canon law – the law that governs the
Church.
• These laws apply to hierarchical organization, liturgical practices – and
everything needed to practice the Catholic faith.
• Civil Law – the laws enacted by civil governments for the
common good of a particular society.
• To be true laws, these laws must adhere to the eternal law. We can see
this understanding when the Ten Commandments are posted in a
courtroom.

8. WHAT TYPE OF
?
• Pray for your enemies.
• You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• Give without expecting repayment.
• Income tax laws and regulation.
• Fast one hour before receiving Holy Communion.

9. • Register for the draft on your 18th birthday.
• Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called
children of God.
• Speed limits
• Alcohol may not be consumed by anyone under 21.
• Honor your father and your mother.
• Forgive others if we expect forgiveness for ourselves.

10. • Protect the rights of the widow, the
orphan, and the alien.
• Regulations regarding the sacrament of
Marriage (age, proper minister, etc.)
• Love God above all things and our
neighbor as ourselves.
• Priests remain celibate for the sake of the
Kingdom.

11. REQUIREMENTS OF A JUST CIVIL
LAW
• 1) Seeks the common good
• Promoting the good of all members of society, not just a
select group to the detriment of others.
• Ex of an unjust law: creating a military draft that exempts the
wealthy
• 2) Reflects the “equality of proportion”
• One group of society should not be unjustly burdened.
• Ex of an unjust law: taxing the poor with an amount they
can’t possibly pay

12. • 3) Reflect some aspect of the Natural Law, articulated by
the 10 Commandments
• Human authority comes from God. Therefore, humans should
not use their authority to contradict God’s (eternal) Law.
• An unjust law contradicts the Natural Law, is not valid.
• Christians are not bound to cooperate with an unjust law.
• Any act of civil disobedience/conscientious objection must
be discerned carefully beforehand.

13. DEGREES
• Let’s talk about degrees…
… of morality
• 2nd principle of morality?
• If the act (object), intention, OR circumstance are evil, the act
is evil. All 3 must be good for a good act.
• However, we can introduce some degrees of goodness and
evil.
• A good circumstance/intention can lessen the gravity of an
evil act, but can never make a bad act good.
• Ex: stealing to provide for your family is better than stealing out
of pure hatred, but stealing is still wrong, because it wrongfully
takes another’s property.

14. CIRCUMSTANCE
(HOW?, WHO?, WHEN?, IN WHAT WAY?)
Act (Object) Good
Circumstance
Example Bad
Circumstance
Example
Good Object The act remains
good.
I drive my friend to
Mass, and I am
legally able to drive
other people.
The act becomes
bad.
Correcting your
friend’s behavior in
front of others in a
way that humiliates
him.
Bad Object Could lessen the
evil of the act,
which remains evil.
Stealing a bottle of
water from a well-
stocked grocery
store.
The act remains
bad.
Stealing a bottle of
water from a
homeless man.

15. INTENTION
(WHY?, IN ORDER TO WHAT?)
Act (Object) Good Intention Example Bad Intention Example
Good Object The act remains
good (or becomes
even better).
Serving at a soup
kitchen in order to
help the poor.
The act becomes
bad.
Serving at a soup
kitchen in order to
steal from the
workers’ bags.
Bad Object Could lessen the
evil of the act,
which remains evil.
Borrowing dad’s
car without asking,
in order to go to
youth group.
The act remains
bad (or becomes
even worse).
Lying to your friend
because you want
to confuse him and
get revenge.

16. WHAT TO DO??
• What do I do if, no matter what I do, good and bad will
result?
• Ex: A woman has life-threatening uterine cancer. She is
also pregnant. The doctor says a hysterectomy is the only
way to save the mother’s life. It will also kill the child.
What is morally permissible to do??

17. THE PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE
EFFECT
• Catholic Morality has a principle to help determine the
right course of action to take in tricky situations like these.
• If the act, intention, and circumstance are GOOD, but
GOOD AND BAD things still result, we can use the
principle of double effect.

18. THE PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE
EFFECT
• IN SUM: The decision to carry out an action which, as a
consequence, has unintended bad results may be made
only when the good effect cannot reasonably be brought
about any other way and when certain conditions have
been met.
• 4 Conditions

19. 4 CONDITIONS OF THE PDE
• 1) The action must be good in itself, or at least indifferent.
• You still can never perform an evil act that good may come
of it.
• 2) The agent must have the right intention.
• The good effect is what is directly aimed for.
• The evil effect is foreseen but not intended.

20. 4 CONDITIONS OF THE PDE
• 3) Good action must be the means of the good effect.
• The evil effect cannot be the means to the good effect.
• 4) The good effect must be proportional to the evil effect.
• When there is an evil effect, there must be a proportionate
or greater good effect.

21. • So…
• A pregnant woman with uterine cancer needs a
hysterectomy in order to live. According to the principle of
double effect, what is the morally good action to take?

22. • Why is a hysterectomy permissible according to the
principle of double effect, but an abortion is not?

23. MORAL SYSTEMS
• Virtue-based ethics looks at the goodness of the ACTION
itself.
• This means that morality is objective and universal.
• In this moral system, certain actions can be called intrinsic
evils – grave moral wrongs which are always and
everywhere wrong. Ie –abortion, murder, genocide,
euthanasia, torture.
• These actions violate human dignity, are particularly hostile
to human life, and oppose the will of God and proper human
fulfillment.

24. MORAL SYSTEMS
• The other option is various forms of moral relativism.
• This means that the goodness of the action can change
based on the circumstances.
• Types of morally relativistic systems of thought include
situation ethics, consequentialism, and proportionalism.

25. SITUATION ETHICS
• Definition: The goodness or evil of an action is
determined by the particular circumstances of the
individual who acts.
• The circumstances are the main determining factor of
morality.
• While it is true that every act has unique circumstances,
S.E. says that because each act has its own unique
circumstances, a universal moral law doesn’t apply.

26. CONSEQUENTIALISM
• Definition: An action is judged as good or evil from the
consequences that follow.
• Aka the end justifies the means.
• An otherwise bad act can be the right choice if “it’s not
hurting anyone” or “I can get away with it.”
• However, consequentialism fails to look at the objective
goodness of the act itself.
• Ex: cheating on your spouse can be good if it somehow
makes the adulterer feel like a better person and has
certain fulfillment.

27. PROPORTIONALISM
• Definition: an act is good if the good effects of that action
exceed the evil effects, and evil if the evil effects exceed
the good effects.
• However, the same issues crop up – no acts can be
judged as objectively right/wrong.

28. OTHER MORAL SYSTEMS – IN
SUM
• SITUATION ETHICS – judges an action based on the
particular situation.
• CONSEQUENTIALISM – judges an action from the
consequences that follow.
• PROPORTIONALISM – judges an action by weighing the
good and evil results.