Me: The ends never justify the means. Anyone who believes so is a teeny tyrant, no better than a pygmy version of Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin and Hitler.
Wal-mart Flunky: Does that apply to everything, or just government? I would say that there are times when the end justifies the means.
Me: What times would those be?
Wal-mart Flunky: For example, say you hate your job, but it's the only thing keeping you afloat and able to survive.
Me: How does hating your job but working it provide an example of ends justify means? Working a job you don't like doesn't provide example of ends justifies the means. You're only screwing yourself by working a job you don't like.
Key to the concept is doing something to someone else or others in order to get what you want whereby you harm the other or others in your gain. You would need to rip off your employer subsequent to working a job you don't like, by calling in sick without being so or pilfering from your employer and justifying it by saying that the job sucks.
Wal-mart Flunky: That's adding a philosophy to the phrase, which I was never doing. I was simply giving an example where the phrase was appropriate and true, adding philosophical connotations changes the meaning of the phrase and the new meaning varies greatly from person to person.
Me: It's not "adding a philosophy". You're providing an excellent example right here!
Ends: Trying to show others you're right in a G+ share commentary exchange even when you are wrong, decidedly.
Means: Making up a silly claim that another has added a philosophy to the phrase ends justifies the means to camouflage your wrongness.
Can you attempt to produce another example that supports ends justifies the means keeping in mind that the phrase deals with someone doing something to someone else or others so that someone gets what he wants? If you can, would you? After all, you claimed that you could.
Wal-mart Flunky: I've provided you with one already.
Means: Killing Cattle
Ends: Food
The ends justifies the means.
Now
Means: Killing Cattle
Ends: Sport
The ends does not justify the means.
Me: What? Cattle aren't people. Key to the concept is doing something to someone else or others in order to get what you want whereby you harm the other or others in your gain.
It deals with human interaction. That means one human interacting with another human.
Ends: Securing riches
Means: Polluting water with a politically-defended inefficient method of production that renders the water incapable of use for others.
Wal-mart Flunky: Just because someone defined the phrase as having that meaning in ancient Greece, renaissance Italy, or semi-contemporary Britain does not mean that it still holds the same meaning and definition today. It's obvious that you're just an elitist.
Me: It's obvious why you're working at Wal-mart.
Gab It
