Category Archives: intention and moral object

Deacon Jim Russell wrote an article, titled Combatants, Non-Combatants, and Double Effect, published August 10, 2017 at Crisis Magazine. The article is one of the worst pieces of Catholic moral theology I have ever read. It contains several serious errors … Continue reading →

The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church on ethics differs from every other source of ethical teachings. The main difference is the doctrine that human acts have a moral nature. Each of our acts has an inherent moral meaning (or … Continue reading →

The HHS Mandate of the Obama administration has gone into effect, as of August 1st, 2012. All businesses that provide health insurance must include contraception and abortifacients in that coverage. There are numerous complicated conditions to this Mandate and to … Continue reading →

Over at Catholic Lane, Rebecca Taylor writes a post on ethics and genetic enhancements: Catholic Confusion on Enhancements; the post is also here. That post is a follow-up to her earlier post at NC Register: Human or Superhuman. In the … Continue reading →

You cannot understand the distinction between direct abortion and indirect abortion unless you understand the three fonts of morality, especially the moral object. See my previous articles on this topic: Intrinsic Evil and the Moral Object In Roman Catholic moral … Continue reading →

Over at National Catholic Register, Mark Shea blogs that pre-emptive war is always immoral. His conclusion is morally unsound and contrary to Catholic dogma on the basic principles of ethics, i.e. on the constitutive elements that make any act moral … Continue reading →

There are three fonts of morality (intention, moral object, circumstances). In order for any knowingly chosen act to be moral, all three fonts must be good. If an act has an evil moral object, then that act is intrinsically evil … Continue reading →

Whenever anyone asks a certain type of question in Catholic Answers Forums, the same false and gravely immoral answer is given by numerous different members of that Forum. Q: Is it moral for a woman to use abortifacient contraception, for … Continue reading →

The Magisterium teaches that there are three fonts or sources of morality, that is to say, three types of things that determine the morality of an act: (1) intention (2) moral object (3) circumstances If all three fonts are good, … Continue reading →

There are three fonts of morality: (1) intention, (2) moral object, (3) circumstances. The Magisterium definitively teaches (Veritatis Splendor, Catechism of the Catholic Church, etc.) that to be moral an act must have three good fonts. Any one bad font … Continue reading →

There are three fonts (sources) of morality: (1) intention – the intended end or purpose for which the act was chosen, by the subject. (2) moral object – the immediate end toward with the act is inherently directed, by the … Continue reading →

The Magisterium has many times taught that contraception is intrinsically evil. The use of contraception is a type of act that is inherently ordered toward an evil end, toward the deprivation of the procreative meaning of sexual relations. The knowing … Continue reading →

There was a story in the news recently about a young woman who was a soldier in the Libyan military. During the rebellion, she was forced to kill captured rebels. These were not killings during battle. The rebels were individually … Continue reading →