"The end justifies the means"

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wacky13

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Jan 29, 2009
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Depends really.I mean if you sacrifice hundreds to make a new make-up item then clearly the end does not justify the means but say sacrifice a few to save millions and cure cancer,I could live with that.While that might make me an asshole I don't really care.
 

NXMT

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Jan 29, 2009
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MONTGOMERYWOODRUFF69 said:
Ask the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that question and see what kind of answers you get.
Well OF COURSE the individual is going to feel the pinch. We're talking about the grand scheme of things here.
 

Silver

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Jun 17, 2008
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NXMT said:
MONTGOMERYWOODRUFF69 said:
Ask the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that question and see what kind of answers you get.
Well OF COURSE the individual is going to feel the pinch. We're talking about the grand scheme of things here.
So what is an individual in this case? A whole country affected by the decision? Practically every country since considering it wrong? It's not just one individual from Hiroshima complaining, you know.
 

Erana

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Feb 28, 2008
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Everything comes at a price.

Take, for example, industrialization. Look at the current problems in East Asia, as those countries become truly modern. Its miserable.
 

Ace of Spades

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"If the deaths of a few people, evil people no less, could save the lives of thousands more, it seems a small sacrifice..." It depends what the means and the end are, but I agree with Warren Riddick in his quote from Assassin's Creed.
 

_Serendipity_

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Jun 15, 2008
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Silver said:
NXMT said:
MONTGOMERYWOODRUFF69 said:
Ask the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that question and see what kind of answers you get.
Well OF COURSE the individual is going to feel the pinch. We're talking about the grand scheme of things here.
So what is an individual in this case? A whole country affected by the decision? Practically every country since considering it wrong? It's not just one individual from Hiroshima complaining, you know.
Your argument is pretty bad there. The feelings of those killed or horribly injured in the atomic blasts bears no relevance to the question 'does the end justify the means', as it's not them deciding wether it is so. The question is directed at the government & people of America, as to wether they feel the ends justified the means or not. Was the lack of a ground war worth killing so many innocent civillians.

In any case, I feel that with such a large question you can never really simply say 'yes' or 'no', each case must be considered on it's own merits, and you must always act the way you feel is best. If you regret it, oh well, that's something to deal with later.
 

Psychemaster

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Aug 18, 2008
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I'm surprised this is even up for debate. Unless you somehow live in a world where time rus backwards, the end does, indeed, justify the mean, as it's incredibly difficult for the idiom to work the other way around.
 

Phoenix Arrow

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Sep 3, 2008
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Depends entirely on the end and the means.

Example. If you happened across a serial killer and you somehow you knew for a fact he was going to kill more people, would you kill him? The end would certainly justify the means as you would be killing this evil person who would kill countless people as a sacrifice to keep the people he would kill alive. That's just as an illustration.

Wait, you said the means justifies the end. How does that even make sense? Elaborate please.
 

KaZZaP

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Aug 7, 2008
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To people who think this, If you go to a starving village is it justified to slaughter half the people in the village to feed the other half?


*edit* and to people who don't understand the backwards way its like, saving a child and the cost of killing a kitten. The end is bad but the means justify it.
 

TwistedEllipses

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I think the phrase is usually accredited to Machiavelli a renaissance writer of 'the prince' trying to advise rulers how to rule. He was talking about making war to prevent greater loss of life.

It's like Hiroshima, it's a tough call but if you're back is ever against the wall you have to throw away the rulebook if you want to survive...
 

Combined

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The end NEVER justifies the means. If the means by which you reach the end are bad, the end is worse.
 

jymbobjones

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the defenitiom for this is varies etc a person stealing bread to feed his starving family thats wen the ends justifys the means but a kid stealing a game at the store cause he doesnt have money thats wen it doesnt justify it but tbh this is funny topic to bring up
 

mattttherman3

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Well take it this way, if you know that a nuke has been stolen by terrorists, and you happen to capture one of them who won't talk, are you telling me that you would not torture that person to try and get to that nuke before it has the chance to kill people(possibly millions)? I would use it, although I am no expert, and if I were to get charged because of it then so be it if it saved lives. In this case the end justifies the means.