Several rows of Oscars. \u00a0Sigh. I\u2019ll probably never win one. Based on its history, though, I still have a reasonably good shot at taking home a Nobel Peace Prize.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFor many years now, I\u2019ve been puzzled by the complaint that somebody \u2014 let\u2019s call him Francis \u2014 believes that \u201cthe end justifies the means.\u201d<\/p>\n
What on earth would<\/em> justify \u201cthe means\u201d if it weren\u2019t for \u201cthe end\u201d to which those \u201cmeans\u201d were . . . \u00a0 well, means<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n- Why dig a big hole in the ground? \u00a0Just for the sake of digging a big hole? \u00a0Wouldn\u2019t the justification of digging the hole lie in the end, the purpose, for which it was being dug? \u00a0Say, in quest of essential minerals, or to construct the foundation of a hospital?<\/li>\n
- Why spend scores of hours learning to decline Ancient Greek nouns or to conjugate Ancient Greek verbs? \u00a0For the fun of it? \u00a0(Then that fun would be the end that justifies those hours.) \u00a0Enabling oneself to read Homer or Plato or the four New Testament gospels would justify the effort of \u00a0learning to conjugate \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u1f7b\u03c9 or to decline \u03bb\u1f79\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2, but it\u2019s difficult to see much point in doing so simply for the sake of doing so.<\/li>\n
- Exercise makes sense as a means of losing weight or improving or preserving one\u2019s health or, even, for those curious souls who feel this way, as a pleasurable activity. \u00a0But genuinely pointless<\/em> exercise, if such a thing can be imagined, seems completely pointless<\/em>.<\/li>\n
- Doing endless chemical experiments while having no interest in their results would be likewise pointless. \u00a0However, doing so in order to solve a scientific problem or to further human knowledge or even in hopes of winning a Nobel Prize makes sense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What makes a \u201cmeans\u201d a means is, precisely, that it is an action or a system by which a result is brought about. \u00a0We seek a resolution by \u201cpeaceful means\u201d because we want to solve a problem without war or violence. \u00a0We seek to improve our financial condition by means of budgetary restraint or increasing our income.<\/p>\n
It seems to me that what people are really saying, when they complain that Francis believes that \u201cthe end justifies the means,\u201d is that he thinks that some end that he has chosen justifies any and all<\/em> means, including those that are immoral, unethical, harmful, or disproportionate. \u00a0Directing a nuclear missile strike against your own position in order to put an end to that pesky fly may well be effective, but it seems rather out of proportion. \u00a0So, too, does avoiding too much salt consumption by foregoing all food. \u00a0Fatally wounding a convenience store clerk in order to steal ten dollars from the cash register is morally unjustifiable. \u00a0When criticizing the idea that \u201cthe end justifies the means,\u201d people are actually saying that some means cannot be justified or, at least, that the price for some things is just too high.<\/p>\nBecause the fact is that the end often does<\/em> justify the means. \u00a0It\u2019s just about the only thing that can<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 With sixteen other friends (neighbors and former neighbors), as is our fairly regular practice, my wife and I went out to dinner last night at the Joy Luck Restaurant in Sandy and then, afterwards, to the nearby Hale Centre Theatre, where we attended a performance of the farce Peter Pan Goes Wrong. \u00a0It\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":17698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38671,39700,26770,39697,38554,31543],"class_list":["post-115123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-genesis-37","tag-joshua-topham","tag-neil-gorsuch","tag-peter-pan-goes-wrong","tag-tariff","tag-thomas-griffith"],"yoast_head":"\n
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