Class 8 of Catholic Social Thought

1. What we’ll do today:
 Name Quiz (5 minutes)
 Go over first paper assignment (10 minutes)
 Examine the Principle of Double Effect and how it contributes to defining certain abortions as indirect
(30 minutes)
 Test our intuitions by looking at some analogous cases of direct vs. indirect killing (25 minutes)
In-class Learning Outcomes
 Assess Church teaching about indirect abortion
 Appraise conjoined twins case as analogy for indirect abortion
 Self-Assessment (5 minutes)
 What did you contribute to class discussion today?
 Someone says: “The distinction between direct vs. indirect killing makes no moral sense because ‘dead is
dead’ and it really doesn’t matter how it happens.” Agree or disagree with this and say why.the case of the
conjoined twins affect how you view official Church teaching about life-saving abortions? Why or why not?

2. Ethical Analysis Paper #1
▶ Topic: Should a personally pro-life Catholic politician attempt
to legislate her or his personal views on a pluralistic society by
working to pass tighter laws against abortion?
▶ Thesis: Even if most people may believe < insert a stance
toward the topic > before reading my paper; after reading
my paper they will see that < insert the change you hope to
bring about in your reader's view of this topic >.

3. The ‘Nothing is Lost’ Principle
 Is it permissible to kill Smith to save Jones if not doing so will result
in the death of both Smith and Jones?
Smith Jones