Double effect is not a good way of justifying moral actions

• The idea that a bad effect is permitted if it is unintended and secondary is difficult to judge - it is almost impossible to genuinely judge the intention of a person - eg there is no difference between the external actions of a doctor who wishes to relieve pain and a doctor who wants to kill
• It is difficult to know how far to press the idea of double effect and which areas it may cover - the use of contraception with the intention of saving life where HIV is spreading has proved a controversial area in the Catholic Church - there may be other areas where double effect could be applied in order to save life or assist reproduction that may result in a slippery slope

Natural law is an unhelpful method of moral decision making

• It can be argued that basic goods vary far more across societies than is generally realised - when these are taken to the level of secondary precepts, it becomes obvious that there are different attitudes to the value of life, which gods should be worshipped and how many people can be involved in marriages
• As an absolutist theory, natural law can at times appear too legalistic and fixed on obeying the rules, particularly when there are obvious negative consequences - eg the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa as a result of Catholic teaching opposing contraception (however it may be argued that this is more to do with how the theory has been interpreted rather than the theory itself)
• Natural law commits the naturalistic fallacy of observing what happens in the world and assuming that this is what must happen - it attempts to define moral values in non-moral terms
• There is a tension between the clarity of the primary precepts and the flexibility of the secondary precepts - the Church does not recognise this difficulty in its claim that the natural law is 'universal in its approach' and the 'application of the natural law varies greatly'

Double effect is a good way of justifying moral actions

• Double effect allows some flexibility in an otherwise rigid decision making procedure - an action that produces both good and bad effects is permitted provided the good one is intended
• Double effect is a recognition of the complexity of real life situations - some absolutists such as Kant have no answer for situations where duties clash or competing goods cannot both be achieved - double effect allows sufficient consequential thinking into natural law to solve some of these cases

Primary precepts

• Preservation of life - Aquinas argues that we are to preserve life - it is evident that life is important, so it is natural and reasonable to be concerned with preserving human life
• Reproduction - it is rational to ensure that life continues and this is the main purpose of sexual intercourse
• Education of the young - humans are intellectual and it is natural for us to learn, particularly the young
• Ordering of society - humans are social beings and it is good to live in an ordered society where it is possible to fulfil our purpose
• Worship of God - it is important to recognise God as the source of life and to live in a way that pleases him

Secondary precepts

• Secondary precepts are more specific rules that can be deduced from the primary precepts
• For example, given that preservation of life is a primary precept we can deduce that killing is wrong
• Whereas the primary precepts are fixed, there is some flexibility in the secondary precepts as these are based on how the primary precepts apply in specific circumstances
• For example, Catholics consider the rejection of contraception to be a secondary precept given the primary precept of reproduction