Ends and Means

In Class

Ends and Means: Consequentialism versus Deontology. The question here is: Do we use the end results to determine whether our actions are ethically correct or do we just consider the morality of our actions?

Here are a few examples that I have been thinking of. For instance, Z in my previous blog post. From the ends' perspective, China wouldn't be what it is today, hence no matter what Z did in the past, Z's actions are morally justified because Z was just doing what was best for China. From the means' perspective, if we just consider some of Z's terrible deeds, then Z is ethically wrong.

Another example would be rude truths and white lies. From the ends' perspective, we should not tell rude truths but white lies, so that we would not hurt the person who we are talking to. On the other hand, we should not tell white lies but rude truths, because morally, we should never lie even though we might hurt the feelings of other people.

From these two examples, it seems as if there are only two extreme options in ethics - absolutism. I personally dislike this, especially in collectivism which states that we should all agree on one thing to have a common truth. I believe in relativism, because no matter what side we take, whether it is the ends or the means, we will always be doing something that can be both ethically justified and morally wrong. Hence, let's just do what is correct in our society, because there is no way that the whole world can agree on one thing.

Source of Image: http://blogs.ksbe.edu/anchung/files/2008/03/09142007.jpg