PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE EFFECT; CONDITIONS
The doctrine consists of four conditions that must be satisfied before an
act causing double effect is morally permissible:
1. The nature-of-the-act condition. The action, apart from the
foreseen evil, must be either morally good or at least
indifferent.
2. The means-end condition. Evil may never be willed directly,
whether it be a means or an end to be achieved. The bad effect
must not be the means by which one achieves the good effect.
Good ends also do not justify evil means. One cannot do evil
so good may come out of it.
3. The right-intention condition. The intention of the agent
(person, doer) must be honest. The intention must be the
achieving of only the good effect, with the bad effect being only
an unintended side effect. All reasonable measures to avoid
or mitigate the bad effect must be taken.
4. The proportionality condition. There must be a proportionately
grave reason for permitting the evil effect. The good effect
must be sufficiently desirable to compensate for allowing the
bad effect.
STEPS IN SOLVING A MORAL DILEMMA:
1. Examine the acts in relation to the agent. (Deontological Method)
The immorality of human acts is determined by examining the acts
in themselves in their relation to the agent (person, doer) who
performs them and the surrounding facts and circumstances.
2. Determine the consequences of the act. (Consequentialist Method).
One must weigh the consequences of a human act to determine
whether it is moral or immoral.
3. Identify the intention of the acts. (Virtue Ethics / Ethics of Care
Assumptions). The morality or immorality of the act resides in the
character and the intention of the person. If the agent intends to
cause harm to others, then the act is immoral.
4. Decide in accordance with divine and natural laws governing moral
life. The human person must discern and make all the right choices
by relating them to his moral conscience, divine law and the ultimate
good of humanity.
ASSIGNMENT: Applying the foregoing principles solve the
following moral dilemmas and explain your answers
thoroughly. Submit your answers printed in short coupon
bond paper on or before our last class meeting before your
final exams.
1. A day before the wedding of your friend, you discovered that
your friend’s spouse-to-be is having an affair with an
officemate. You caught them sneaking out of a hotel together.
What will you do? Explain your answer.
• Tell your friend about the affair but the wedding may not
push through and all the preparations will be canceled.
Your friend’s happiness will surely be ruined.
• Remain silent; keep the truth from your friend; and allow
the wedding to push through so as not to ruin the most
important event in your friend’s life.
2. You are an eyewitness to a robbery. Your friend robbed a rich
woman for him to pay for his son’s crucial operation. You know he
committed the crime. If you go to the police to report the crime,
there is the strong possibility that the money will be returned to
the rich woman. What will you do? Will you report the crime and
tell the truth to the police or say nothing since the money will be
used for the operation and the son’s life will be save? Justify your
answer.
3. On your way home one night, you figured in a car accident.
While driving your car, you accidently hit and killed a pedestrian.
As you got out of the car, you were intercepted by a crying lady
who thought that she was the one who hit and killed the
pedestrian. There were only three people on the scene: you, the
lady and the dead person you hit on the road. There were no other
witnesses. Thus, you know that whoever is responsible will be
sent to jail. What will you do? Explain your answer.
4. You are a doctor at a hospital. You have five seriously ill
patient, four of them are in urgent need of organ transplants. You
cannot help them because there are no available organs that can
be used to save their lives. The fifth patient, a criminal, has a
lingering illness that can no longer be treated. If he dies, you will
be able to save the other four patients by using his organs for
transplant. What will you do? Explain your answer.
