Does The End Justify The Means? First‚ let’s try to understand the sense in which the word "justifies" is used in the familiar statement that "the end justifies the means." After that we can consider the problem you raise about whether it is all right to employ any means - good or bad - so long as the end is good. When we say that something is "justified‚" we are simply saying that it is right. Thus‚ for example‚ when we say that a college is justified in expelling a student who falls below
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The idea that "the ends justify the means" is very dangerous because not only can it hurt others but it can also damage those who believe in that idea and take action to do it. Some people have a tendency to focus only on the outcomes since they seem much more victorious and glorious than the time they have to spend to reach them. This tendency might tempt one to cheat to get to good ends as quickly as possible. The movie‚ Cheaters directed by John Stockwell‚ shows how pursing only a good outcome
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END JUSTIFY MEANS At the beginning of an action we might not know whether the action is morally correct or wrong but when morally right goal is successfully achieved we might say all the steps which lead to reach to this goal was correct and hence the beginning of the journey was appropriate. If the goals are good and noble then steps which are used to achieve them are also noble and good then yes end does justify its means. But desired morally correct goal can also be achieved by taking unethical
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one of his more controversial essays that ’The End Justifies the Means.’ Through the ages this quotation could be applied‚ especially in today’s society. This statement does have its positives and negatives. However‚ it still has some values. Most people look at this statement and ponder why this individual believes in such a thing. Believe it or not people do live like this and value it’s simplicity. The statement is significant because it can justify many world issues that need to be addressed. However
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the author concedes that fortune plays an integral role in the life of a prince or aspiring prince by‚ for example‚ providing opportunity (Machiavelli 26)‚ these humanistic tenets drive the essence of Machiavelli’s argument that the ends ultimately justify the means. That Machiavelli’s stated purpose is to “say something that will prove of practical use” (Machiavelli 65) is of particular significance because it both delicately and violently attacks the worth of such philosophical systems as neo-Platonism
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The end justifies the means The end justifies the means is an expression that is often used in society to validate or excuse distasteful and objectionable actions undertaken by its people. In effect‚ the phrase is a justification for dispensing with all morality and principle in the passage towards a successful conclusion. The Greek writer Sophocles wrote in Electra 409 BC “the end excuses any evil." This was a thought later considered‚ by the Roman poet Ovid‚ ‘the result justifies the deed’
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Does The End Justify The Means? by Mortimer J. Adler‚ Ph.D. Does the end justify the means? Can it sometimes be right to use a bad means to achieve a good end? Don’t the conditions of human life require some shadiness and deceit to achieve security and success? First‚ let’s try to understand the sense in which the word "justifies" is used in the familiar statement that "the end justifies the means." After that we can consider the problem you raise about whether it is all right to employ
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questionable‚ but being that the ends are so positive‚ it would be futile to look at it otherwise. Plain and simple‚ the means are irrelevant if the ends are positive enough to trump them. Machiavelli defends these conclusions using both explicit and implicit language. Machiavelli states‚ “Therefore‚ a prince must not worry about the reproach of cruelty when it is a matter of keeping his subjects united and loyal…”. There he is using “the ends justify the means”. He’s saying that it is okay to
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Does “the end justify the means”? Does “The end Justify the means”. In the movie‚ Mississippi Burning‚ the end justifies the means in a way because when you think about it most of the time there are certain limitations to getting what you want. In the movie the only way to get the Ku Klux Klan to confess and give each other to the police was to trick them and make them think that the Ku Klux Klan was after them. In other occasions around the world at the time it was not always necessary to hurt
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or justified questionable acts because we thought the outcome was for the best interest of all parties involved. This action can be summed up with the statement “the end justifies the means”. This statement or doctrine originated in the writings of Publius Ovidius Naso who wrote Heroides (Van Wyk‚ 2007). The ends justify the means can be defined as a good outcome excuses any wrongs committed to attain it (The American Heritage Idioms Dictionary‚ 1995). We can see this justification be used in
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