morality: elements

Re: Morality, Elements
Fr: Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) # 1750-1755.

The morality of a human act depends on:

[a] primary elements

1. the object chosen
-- “Objective norms of morality express the RATIONAL order of good and evil, attested to by CONSCIENCE.” (# 1751)

2. the subject’s intention
-- A good intention does not make a bad act good. “The end does not justify the means.” (# 1753)

[b] secondary element

3. the circumstances (including the consequences)
Circumstances can increase or diminish the moral goodness or evil of human acts and/or the subject’s responsibility, but cannot change the moral quality of acts themselves. (# 1754)

NB: Basic Moral Principle
“A morally good act requires the goodness of the object, of the end, and of the circumstances together.” (# 1755)