for the sake of good consequences

English translation: the end does not justify the means

17:17 Sep 9, 2008

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Philosophy

English term or phrase: for the sake of good consequences

Hi, can you please help me interpret the sentence below?

"Max Weber famously distinguished an ethic of ultimate ends from an ethic of responsibility. In the former, absolute moral imperatives must not be violated **for the sake of good consequences**, but an ethic of responsibility must focus on the results".

Does this mean that if absolute moral imperatives are violated, bad consequences will ensue? Or am I completely out of track here?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Adele

Adele Oliveri KudoZ activity Questions: 204 (none open) (13 closed without grading) Answers: 1690 Italy
Local time: 07:00

Selected answer:the end does not justify the means

Explanation:
A popular truism. Means you can't do bad "immoral" things, even if the end goal is "good."

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Note added at 4 mins (2008-09-09 17:21:45 GMT)
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The other ethic is also commonly described as: "If you wanna make an omelet, you got to break some eggs," meaning the end does justify the means.

Selected response from:

Mark Berelekhis
United States
Local time: 01:00

Grading comment

Thank you Mark and a special thanks to David for his comment in the "discussion" section. I was simply reading the sentence the other way round (i.e. the only way to get good consequences is to adhere to strict moral principles). Thanks for enlightening me! :-)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +8

the end does not justify the means

Mark Berelekhis

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

3 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +8

the end does not justify the means

Mark Berelekhis
United States
Local time: 01:00
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Russian,

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Patricia Townshend (X)

45 mins

-> Thank you, Patricia.

agree

Jack Doughty

1 hr

-> Thank you, Jack.

agree

Ken Cox: and my sympathy for Adele -- even a native speaker has to read this twice to figure out what is meant.

1 hr

-> Thank you, Ken. Philosophy tends to be pesky.

agree

mili gutierrez castro: for me the key word is "absolute" along with imperative, meaning that it would be justifiable to violate some "minor" moral principles

1 hr

-> Thank you, Maria.

agree

Demi Ebrite: One must not go against their moral imperatives in order to obtain or create good consequences.

3 hrs

-> Thank you, debrite.

agree

Heather Shaw

4 hrs

-> Thank you, Heather.

agree

orientalhorizon

8 hrs

-> Thank you, oriental.

agree

Phong Le

10 hrs

-> Thank you, phong.

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English translation: the end does not justify the means

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