'ends justify means'..? or 'means justify ends'..?

Question

whatever is done by a person ,he gets back for that but it is also a reality that whatever ur means of geting something , at the end, if u win you are considered to be the best...SO WHAT IS RIGHT..U MAY AGREE R DISAGREE..BUT PLZ GIVE SOME LOGICAL,POLITICALLY CORRECT,AND REAL PHILOSOPHIES AS WELL EXAMPLES...CONNOTATION ARE DENNOTATION...

Answer 1

Think about what justify means.

Your means may make your end possible, but they don't justify it.

The term "ends justify means" really is a justification in and of itself in many cases. :)~

Answer 2

"We are often told that someone's "noble ideal" can be attained only by evil actions, which we are then urged to perform ("the end justifies the means"). Objectivism rejects this license to immorality. The end does not justify the means. The truth is the exact opposite: an immoral means invalidates the end. The full statement of Ayn Rand's view is that the end-in-itself, man's life, determines the fundamental means of human action (the proper principles); and these in turn delimit the concretes one can validly pursue in a given context. The ultimate value sets the virtues, which then guide men in the assessment of any particular object proposed as a goal. This is the only approach that escapes the impossible dilemma of means vs. ends, or virtue vs. value. The escape consists in recognizing that virtues are not their own reward or a species of self-torture, but a selfish necessity in the process of achieving values."

Answer 3

i would disagree that whatever your means, if you win, you are the considered the best, that doesnt always happen,
as to the basic question, i think this would really depend on the exact ends and means
both should fall within what you feel is morally correct, or rather not immoral,
any action must be considered for its own merit, irregardless of what the result of it is , and any result must be held to the same standard, here again irregardless of the individual means used to arrive at it
for instance
you feel someone close to you is overweight
you tell them they are fat, you hurt their feelings, they lose weight and are then healthier, the means did not justify the end, you had a responsibilty to find better means

or, same situation, you are sensitive to their feelings, plus feel its their own issue, you dont mention the subject, they develop health problems, the end result didnt justify your means (even if your means were correct and well intentioned ) if you cared, you had a responsibility to reach a different end

Answer 4

I think that in some cases, our means are justified by our ends.

For example, we would ordinarily consider it immoral to shove an old lady. But suppose the old lady was blind and deaf and about to get hit by a car. If we shove her in order to save her life, the end (saving her life) would justify the means (shoving her).

But I can't think of a case where means would justify ends. That doesn't even make sense to me. Ends are always the reason for means. Means are never the reason for ends. We act in a certain way to accomplish a certain purpose. So the idea of means justifying ends is incoherent to me.

Answer 5

what are "ends"?
what is "justify"?
what are "means"?