3 Tests of a Moral Act
Tests of a good act are sometimes called the sources of morality, or the founts of morality. For an act to be good, it must pass three tests. If the action fails any of these tests, it is bad, and can’t be chosen.
A. OBJECT – This element of the moral act answers the question, “What am I trying to do?” The object is the essence of the act.
One considers the act apart from any other sort of factor or consideration. In other words, it defines the act according to its own nature, regardless of motive or circumstances. It is the goal towards which the act is directed, what the act is trying to achieve.
Examples: Physically it looks the same to kill an innocent person and to kill a guilty person, to kill an aggressor and a non-aggressor.
The moral object determines whether or not the act is good or bad, however.
Another example: Physically it looks the same to take the pill for contraceptive reasons and to take the pill for period regulation.
Now you can disagree about whether it’s a good idea in either case, but one is a different kind of act, namely the act of contraception, and the other is a medicinal act, an act to actually correct something that's going wrong with the body,
If you were just going to describe it by the mere observation of taking a pill you would describe them both the same way.
Remember, it's what you’re trying to do.
If you’re trying to murder somebody and you don’t succeed you have still, committed murder in your heart. You have still made that moral move to choose an evil object.
Thus, we can’t simply describe the object in terms of what we’ve successfully achieved or accomplished. It’s what you try to do, not necessarily what you get done.
When the moral object is evil, the action is called ‘intrinsically evil.’ This means that it can’t be chosen despite a good intention. To paraphrase St. Paul, “You cannot do evil so that good may come from it.”
B. INTENTION - The second test answers the question, “Why am I trying to do this?” This is why the agent is acting.
End - why this agent is acting. This answers the question, “why am I doing it?” It is, in other words, the motivation. It is the state of affairs that you hope to bring about. It’s the perceived good that’s motivating you.
To avoid confusion, it’s better to be more specific and use the word motive when discerning the end; for example, “what were you trying to do and why were you trying to do it?”
Even when the motive is good, this cannot make an act good if it has a bad object.
This is all we mean when we say, “The end never justifies the means.” If you have a bad means that is a bad object. It can’t be made good regardless of motivation.
The reverse is also true: a good object (giving to the poor) can be made bad with a bad motivation (appraise of men). This is why Jesus condemns the Pharisees.
C. CIRCUMSTANCE - the final test for a moral act, albeit in a subordinate way.
These are the surrounding details pertinent to the act that increase or diminish the seriousness of the act. (Like how much money stolen, is the act of charity for an enemy, etc.)
These can’t make an evil act good, but they can make a good act bad.
If Superman was flying to save a school bus of kids from falling over a cliff, but on his way to the danger he also sees a dog that’s about to be hit by a car, it’s moral to save a dog, it’s a good object with a good end, but ignoring the bus full of kids for a dog is wrong.
Another example: a mother spending all her time in adoration instead of with her kids. This is immoral.
Conclusion, for an act to be good, all three elements or tests have to be good, the Moral Object, the Intention, and the Circumstance.