MYLES REARDEN, c.m.,
Sir, - Even without knowing what kind of a bear a bugbear is (Editorial on euthanasia, October 8th), it is easy to see that the principle of double effect is a useful, not to say indispensable, pack-horse of moral reflection.
It enables people to pick their way through parts of the everyday moral morass. Without it, how could anyone tell a lorry-driver who drove over a cliff to avoid a school bus from one who simply drove over it with suicidal intent, or one who used the oncoming bus as an excuse for suicide - three profoundly different kinds of act,.
All civilisations are ways of reconciling conflicting values. Perhaps Belgium and Holland have something to learn from us (or at least, our bishops) in the matter of Christian civilisation. - Yours, etc.,
MYLES REARDEN, c.m., St Vincent's College, Castleknock, Dublin 15.