Question Home

Position:Home>Philosophy> If the end justifies the means? what?


Question: If the end justifies the means!? what!?
how decides the end justifies the means!.!.!.because in someone's head the end does justify the means!.!.!. for example!.!.!. to secure my hypothetical daughter's life i plant evidence so that her will be killer can be falsely imprisoned for something else and therefore save my daughter!. In my head!.!.!.& most persons!.!.!."the end justifies the means"!.!.!. but in every person's actions!.!.!.!. dont they do the said action because they the believe the end will justify their actions!.!.!.that it will all be worth it when the result of what theyve done comes to exist!.

Is there any case where in someone's head the end does not justify the means!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
The means are the ends!. Our actions do not ONLY result in the end we have in mind for our lives!.!.!.they radiate into other lives!. They are not like a laser going from 'a' to 'b'!.!.!.they are like a rock dropping into the middle of a lake!.
Our actions create the world we live in!. Even if the act remains hidden forever!.!.!.that secret action changes us!.!.!.we, in effect, become the ripple!. It changes everything we touch from that point on!.
Refuse to create a world you do not want to live in!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There is only the present!. Doing the right thing in the present, which always is, means there is no end but now!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It means that it doesn't matter how to you get where you want to go, as long as you get where you want to go!. I disagree with it!. A case where the end does not justify the means is when someone is moral enough not to do something they feel is wrong in order to get what they want!. A good example is Aunt May in Spiderman saying that sometimes we even have to give up our dreams in order to do the right thing!. That's a good example of the end not justifying the means to her specific morals!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i robbed a drug dealers house because i wanted money to move into an apartment!. and while i was doing it the end justified the means but sitting in prison i realized that no the end did not justify the means and the means are what got me here!. now if it wasnt something illegal then i might be able to agree with you!. but its not always that way is it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

what is "justified"!? would you theoretically have killed a sleeping baby if you knew that baby would grow up to be hitler!? that is the ultimate "end justify the means" question!.!.!.

could you do it!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Only retrospectively!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

When Machiavelli originally outlined this idea, he was applying it solely to governments (which at the time were nearly all monarchies)!. He believed that a government would not be effective unless it ruled with an iron hand -- being merciful would be a sign of weakness!.Www@QuestionHome@Com