According to Catholicism, is it ever permissible to produce physical evil so that good may result?
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is it ever permissible to produce physical evil so that good may result?
Yes, it is permissible to destroy ("produce physical evil") in order to effect good. The human manner of creating things always involves destruction because we create with preexisting matter; only God can create something "out of nothing" (creatio ex nihilo). Creation in itself is morally neutral.
Think about Michelangelo sculpting a statue. He first has to destroy ("corrupt") the lump of marble in order to bring about a new form in it (with a lot of scrap marble he chiseled leftover!). God's mode of creation is much more perfect; He could simply bring the Statue of David into existence from nothing, with no preexisting marble (and no leftover debris!).
Also, it seems you're really asking about the principle of double-effect, which allows for doing harm in order that a greater evil not result (e.g., amputating a gangrene leg so that a person doesn't die). See Summa Theologica II-II q. 64 a. 7 or §2.5 "Moral Norms Especially Relevant to Health Care" of Health Care Ethics: A Theological Analysis.
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