Do you think that the ends justify the means?

Question

Im asking this as an universal answer, so either it does or it does not. So if it lead to something good, does it matter how you get there? And the same for something bad. No mater what. No exceptions.

Once agan, Do the ends jutify the means?

Answer 1

No.  What you are describing is consequentialism - the belief that actions should be judged by their results.  Actions should be judged by their context, not their results.  The same action could have different results (consequences) depending on the way things play out.  Essentially, depending on luck.  Life is too complicated to trace an action to a single, definite result, not when there are other factors at play, which there always are.

SHAYSHAY: That isn't true at all.  What about inadvertent good? Or inadvertent bad?  Say a person steals someone's handbag, a virtually indisputable "bad" action.  But the handbag had a gun in it, that the woman who owned it was planning to use to kill someone just hours later.  Thus the "bad" action actually saved a life.  Now, this particular situation has probably never happened before and maybe never will happen.  But there are many other situations like it.  See my point?

Answer 2

Yes.  How can you say no? As long as the ends have a greater good then the means, the ends do justify the means.  Is it terrible to kill a man? Yes.  Is it justified to kill a man who will kill 10 people if you dont kill him? Yes. The action must be taken because it is for the greater good, and the greater good is all a man can do when faced with two bad choices.

Answer 3

No, not always. True that every decision we make takes us down the path of our lives, and we are the people we are because of the choices we have made. But I think in some cases some will try to get somewhere or to obtain something and not care how they do it. In those cases, in the end there could be a lot of hurt people along the way. Also I think that there is a universal check and balances law in effect. Karma. So in the end what one may have thought was so very important may end up biting them in the butt or be lost somehow.

Answer 4

does killing half the world's population justify the means if it ends world hunger? no.

does stealing a cookie from the jar justify a deliciously tasty morsel of chocolaty goodness? yep-er-roo.

i guess it depends.

Answer 5

No, not always. I would never harm someone to get to the top. I have heard or read where people have done things like this. I am a firm believer in the old adage of "What goes around, comes around." What you do, whether it is good or bad will come back to you, have no doubt.

Answer 6

The only path to good is good. Therefore a good end does not need any justification for the "means" which led to it; as the means MUST be good to beget good.

I think this question is definitely a gray area but I would have to say "no" if that's what you want to hear.

Answer 7

It can, but its a dangerous path to start down.

Since you want a universal answer for this, I would say no.

And I know this isn't exactly the best way to show this, but most people have seen at least one of these storylines from the movies.

I would point to the examples of Anakin Skywalker of Star Wars, and of Michael Corleone of The Godfather.

Both started out as good men.  Both were put in a situation in which they would have to accept losing something they loved if they remained good.  In the case of Anakin, his dreams showed that he might lose his wife Padme if he didn't find a way to keep her alive.

And in the case of Michael, he might lose his father to assassins if he doesn't find a way to stop them.

Both made a choice that fit perfectly for this question of "do the ends justify the means?"  

Does his wife's possible death justify learning the dark side, and accepting all the evil that comes with it?

Does the possibility of losing his father justify murder?

Both choose to believe that the ends of protecting his wife or protecting his father does justify learning of the Dark Side of the Force and also justifies murder.

And these decisions start both down paths that constantly lead to more and more evil for both of them.  They are both provided possible escapes during their descent into evil; but each time the want to stop evil happening to others only leads to them accepting more evil into themselves.

So much so that Anakin will eventually become Darth Vader and will terrorize an entire galaxy's worth of people.  And so much so for Michael that he eventually has his own brother killed.

And neither was able to accomplish their goal anyway.  Padme still died, precisely because of Anakin's actions.  Vito, Michael's father, also died.  But Michael was now on a path that would lead to the death of both of his brothers and his first wife, and make his second wife leave him and take the kids with her.

All because they accepted the belief that the ends justify the means.

Answer 8

No.

When you start living with that as your mantra or code then you are living to help build the likes of the n**i party, the Pol Pot regime, or Joesph Stalin's tyranny.

"The end justifies the means" is just another cruel tenant of the moral recidivism we in this world are going through.

Answer 9

All paths lead to the truth.

Answer 10

No.  

They justify themselves.

Answer 11

No. If the ends can't be accomplished in a positive way, it probably is not something to do.