Do the ends justify the means?
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Do the ends justify the means?
From Machiavelli’s philosophy, the end justifies the means; we break down the statement to understand each component. For instance, “the ends” means the desired objective and “the means” refer to the way how the work is done to attain the desired objective. From our day to day use of the terms, they mean not as explained above but in law and philosophy, that is how the words mean. This means that how one works on the job does not matter what counts are the results
The moral philosophy of teleology particularly intrigued me throughout our course studies. I agree with this theory. The concept implies that there is a primary focus on consequences for which any action might have both terms used. In order to make moral changes, one must have an understanding of what will result from choices which are made. In other words, every action has a reaction. An excellent example of this is making choices that can result in incorrect consequences. A problem can occur when determining the correct values if an action can produce several outcomes. Moreover, there is a tendency to adopt an attitude of the ends justifying the means.
The philosophical theory I tend to disagree with is that of egoism. This theory suggests that people have the liberty to chase after things that best suit their needs and interests. It further supports the idea that nobody should be held accountable for the interests and needs of other people. Egoism has a negative ethical background as people would tend to care for others. This specific theory, therefore, does not support the argument that the ends of an action do not justify the means.
Work Cited
Curry, P., Zarate, O., & Curry, P. (2015). Introducing Machiavelli.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2017). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. 11th ed.