1. Components of Moral Actions
Morality and Action
Components of Moral Actions

2. The Human Act
We have discussed human acts a lot this semester, it is important to remember that only humans can make moral choices because we have an intellect and a will.
As we saw last week in the introductory worksheet to human acts, there are three key components to every human act:
First, the object of the act itself
Second, the end in view or intention for the act
Third, the circumstances of the act

3. (1) The Object The object of moral choices are the actions done.
The object carries the most weight when determining the morality of an action.
Thus, a sinful object (act) can never be justified, even if the intention or “exceptional circumstances” are good.
Another way of saying this is that an intrinsically evil act is always evil.

4. (2) The Intention (End)
The intention refers to the motive for which an act is done. It should not be confused with the result of the action (which does not always turn out as planned).
Bad intentions turn good acts into sinful actions.
Good intentions can diminish the gravity of sinful action, but can never turn a sinful object into a good one.

5. (3) The Circumstances
The circumstances describe each individual moral choice by asking about the who, what, when, where, why, how, and when.
Some circumstances lessen the gravity of a sin, while others increase it. However, no circumstance can make a wrong action good.
Let’s look at examples of circumstances to get a better idea of what they are…

6. Examples of Circumstances
Who?
The person acting. A lie said by a child and one said by a president carry different moral weight.
What?
The thing done. It is more serious to steal a sacred object than an ordinary one.
Where?
The place where the act occurs. A sin in public is different from a sin in private.

7. Examples of Circumstances
Why?
The immediate situation of a particular action or some additional reason that a sinner may have for committing a sin. This should not be confused with the intention.
How?
The manner in which the act is done.
When?
The timing of an act. For example, it is not serious to miss Mass on a weekday, but it is serious to miss Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation.

8. The Principle of Double Effect
Not every human action simply results in having only good or bad effects. Sometimes an action may bring about a bad result even though all three components of the moral act are good.
The “principle of double effect” determines whether or not actions that have both good and evil effects are permissible.

9. The Principle of Double Effect
(1) The action must be good in itself
(2) The agent must have the right intention
(3) Good action must be the means of good effect
(4) The good effect must be proportional to the evil effect.

10. Errors in Moral Theology
We have just finished discussing moral relativism, which is an anti-Christian morality that believes each individual determines what is right or wrong.
There are three major errors that spring from moral relativism:
Situation ethics
Consequentialism
Proportionalism

11. Situation Ethics
Situation ethics maintains that the goodness or evil of a given action is determined by the particular situation.
The circumstances form the prevailing criteria concerning the morality of an action.

12. Consequentialism
Consequentialism judges an action to be good or evil from the consequences that follow.
This is essentially an “ends justifies the means” philosophy.

13. Proportionalism
Proportionalism measures the moral goodness of an action according to a comparison between its good and evil effects.
In other words, if the positive effects of an action outweigh the negative effects, it is a good action. You are choosing “a lesser of two evils.”

14. Why are these relativist moralities wrong?
Although they seem rational, these three moralities are flawed.
They lead to immediate and complete subjectivism because the person acting decides for himself what is moral.
They deny objective moral truth.
They are based on human emotion, which is far too volatile to be the basis for moral decisions.