Below we provide an example of a final essay for grade 11 on the topic “Goals and Means” with arguments from the literature. After reviewing the example below and the structure of writing the final essay, you will come to the exam with prepared theses and arguments on the topic!
“Does the end always justify the means?”
Introduction
Every active person with an active life position sets goals, the achievement of which forms the meaning of our existence. And the choice of means to implement our plans largely depends on us, which can be moral, humane, or, on the contrary, immoral.
Problem
There is a famous expression: “The end justifies the means.” But is this always the case, or are there cases when it is worth realistically assessing the possibilities and consequences of your actions?
Thesis No. 1
Sometimes, in order to achieve a goal, a person recklessly sacrifices his environment, often destroying the most harmless, naive and harmless.
Argumentation
In the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" the main character Rodion Raskolnikov decided to test whether he could step over moral standards and himself. He kills the old pawnbroker, her sister, who is carrying a child under her heart and who became an accidental witness to the murder.
Conclusion
Therefore, you cannot sacrifice not only your life, but also the well-being and comfort of someone in the name of your aspirations.
Thesis No. 2
For the sake of realizing his petty, unworthy goals, an offended person may choose too cruel means, without thinking about the consequences.
Argumentation
For example, Eugene Onegin from the novel by A.S. Pushkin's Onegin, succumbing to a stupid insult, took revenge on his best friend. Lensky invited him to Tatyana’s name day, to whom he had recently denied love. They were seated opposite each other, and Onegin experienced severe discomfort. For this, he began to flirt with Lensky's fiancee. This led to a duel and the death of Vladimir.
Conclusion
This example confirms that before you take any action, no matter how much you want something, no matter what you dream about, you need to think about the consequences. Otherwise, such games can destroy someone's life, lead to loss of self-esteem and, ultimately, to the destruction of one's own personality.
Thesis No. 3
It happens that a person sacrifices himself to achieve a goal.
Argumentation
Thus, in M. Gorky’s story “The Old Woman Izergil,” one of Danko’s heroes tore out his burning heart from his chest in order to illuminate the path for his people and lead them out of the dark forest. But his good intentions were not appreciated, someone simply crushed his heart with their foot.
Conclusion
In the name of good, we can do whatever we want, provided that it does not infringe on the interests of other people.
Conclusion (general conclusion)
All we have the right to do is sacrifice ourselves, our means, our well-being in the name of realizing our dreams. This way we won’t harm anyone but ourselves, but we will also, quite possibly, help others.
We often hear this phrase, and we mainly encounter what it means in the works of classics and contemporaries. Does the end justify the means? A question that can leave hundreds of people scratching their heads. Pragmatists will no doubt answer “yes,” but is it morally possible to say so?
Where did the saying come from?
If the end justifies the means, how can we understand which goal is truly good and worthy of sacrifice? A good example in modern life is the death penalty. On the one hand, such punishment is mainly awarded to people who have committed serious crimes, and in order to prevent their repetition and as an edification to others, they are deprived of their lives.
But who has the right to decide that a person is guilty? Is it worth creating professional killers? And if a person was convicted wrongly, who will be responsible for the execution of an innocent person?
That is, interest in such a topic is quite justified. And it is logical that, together with modern technologies and the desire to still solve this eternal question, there arises a need to find out who originally thought that this was permissible? Why did a person decide to hide behind lofty goals to justify his action? But even when searching for information, it is difficult to understand who actually is the author of this slogan.
Searching for the truth
Books are considered one of the most reliable sources of information today. It is from there that people get information, study history from it and, perhaps, find unique facts. But on the topic of the expression “The means justify the end” it is difficult to find a specific answer there. This is because the saying has been around for many years and has been used and paraphrased by many famous thinkers and philosophers. Some agreed, some refuted, but in the end it became not so easy to find the author. Main candidates for authorship: Machiavelli, Jesuit Ignatius of Loyola, theologian Hermann Busenbaum and philosopher
Is it really Machiavelli?
When people begin to wonder: “The end justifies the means... Someone’s palm is most often given to the Italian historical figure and thinker of the 15th-16th centuries
He is the author of the famous treatise “The Sovereign,” which can safely be called a textbook for a good politician, especially of those times. Despite the fact that centuries have passed since his activities, some of his thoughts can still be considered relevant. But there is no such expression in his works. His views can to some extent be summarized by this phrase, but in a different sense. Machiavelli's philosophy is based on making the enemy believe that he has betrayed his ideals. To throw dust in the eyes and take them by surprise, but not to abandon them for the sake of “higher goals”. His views do not imply action against one's ideals, where the means justify the end, but a political game.
Jesuit motto
Of course, Ignatius of Loyola is considered the next author of the quotation after Machiavelli. But this is again completely false. You can’t just pass the championship from hand to hand. Each of the listed thinkers’ views can be reflected in this phrase, paraphrased, but with the same essence.
But this only shows that the original source was completely different, because over time, interest in the phrase only grows. Since the means justify the end, does this have anything to do with the Jesuits? Yes. If you do a little research, it becomes obvious that Escobar y Mendoza was the first to formulate the statement. Like Loyola, he is also a Jesuit, and quite famous. Thanks to him, some believe that the phrase was the motto of the order. But in fact, after the Pope condemned Escobar’s views, they completely abandoned him, and the Jesuit slogan itself sounds like this: “To the greater glory of God.”
Dilemma in modern times
In our era of tolerance and humanism (more precisely, the pursuit of such ideals), is it possible to find an opinion among the highest ranks that the end justifies the means? There are numerous examples, but they are rather based on subjective opinion, because none of the politicians would dare to say such a phrase directly. On the other hand, we are left with what has always been a tool for self-education. Books and their authors that, through writing, show the flaws of human society. Now, however, the area of influence is not limited to books alone.
Characters in books, films, computer games and other modern works many times have to make choices and decide whether the means justify the ends or not. The choice is made between the greater and the lesser evil in the name of the common good. For example, the hero has to decide: is it worth sacrificing the village in order to have time to prepare the castle for a siege? Or is it better to try to save the village and hope that the current forces are enough without fortifications? In any case, it seems that there is no third option. But if ideals are betrayed, and the hero begins to decide who is worthy of living and who is not, can one really say that his world will be saved? Of course, when you read a story and delve into the essence, it may also seem that there is no other way. But at the end, the author usually shows the price of “good intentions” and gives the reader a chance to think about the possibility of avoiding a bitter end. Sometimes it's easier to close your eyes and convince yourself that you're doing the right thing. But the simplest path is not always the right one.
« End justifies the means“- it is believed that this phrase became the motto of the Jesuit order and belongs to its organizer Escobar. In addition, this statement became the basis of morality. Very often it is given a negative meaning, incorrectly interpreting that any means can be justified by the goal. But on the way to the goal there may be means that will interfere with the achievement of the goal or be neutral towards it. Thus, the meaning of this phrase can be defined as follows: “An end can justify any means that contribute to its achievement.”
Many see immorality in this statement, although the means themselves cannot be immoral. People who set goals or these goals themselves can be immoral.
In fact, the Jesuit motto was: “By any means necessary.” Christ commanded us the principles of love and goodness, while they acted immorally, discrediting Christianity. The Order disappeared, significantly weakening the strength of people's faith. The end did not justify the means.
We know that the goal and the means are interconnected, but no one can determine the strength and direction of this relationship, as well as what amount of means will lead to achieving the goal. It happens that the means used lead to the opposite goal. You should start by defining your goal. The goal should be the most realistic and achievable. Reality is a necessary quality in order not to follow the path of a false goal.
In addition, the goal and the means must have the same measure. The goal must justify the means spent on it and, accordingly, the means must correspond to the goal. To achieve a goal, a person can use any goals that do not contradict his moral qualities and his conscience. The means can also be any, even human life itself.
Each person has his own values. He will never sacrifice his highest value to achieve his lowest. A society will be stable if the scale of values of its members coincides. In modern society, human life is recognized as the highest value. This means that any moral goal should not endanger people’s lives.
What determines justification for a goal? This can only be the social significance of the goal. Social significance is good and moral principles. This means that the goal justifies everything that adds up to the public good and does not contradict the moral principles accepted in society. The goal must be moral.
If the goal must always be moral, which constitutes the public good, then the means must also be moral. A good goal cannot be achieved by using immoral means.
Despite the fact that this postulate seems obvious, everyone who strives for something sooner or later has to solve a moral dilemma, answering the question: what am I willing to do to achieve my goal? Unfortunately, everyone answers this question differently, depending on their character, moral, ethical and religious beliefs, and personal ideas about the boundaries of what is permissible.
Let us remember Molchalin, one of the characters in the play by A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". As a secretary in Famusov's house, he stubbornly moves towards his goal: to make a career, get out into the world, and be accepted in Famusov's society. For this reason, he does not disdain anything: he flatters, lies, maintains a romantic relationship with Sofia Famusova, for whom he actually has no feelings. The basis of Molchalin’s character is hypocrisy. He has no idea about duty, love, loyalty, honor. He pedantically fulfills his father’s behest “to please all people without exception” and does not voice out loud what he really thinks. According to the main character of Chatsky’s comedy, Molchalin
“will reach the known degrees.” That is, Molchalin is moving towards his goal, and, most likely, will achieve it, because he is ready to humiliate himself, be mean, and lie for the sake of this. People like this character are successful in society. This truth is affirmed by the author of the play, putting into Chatsky’s mouth the words that have become an aphorism: “Silent people are blissful in the world.”
F.M. Dostoevsky, in his novel The Brothers Karamazov, takes up the theme of justifying immoral means of achieving an end in a much deeper sense. In a dialogue with his younger brother, novice Alyosha, Ivan Karamazov talks about his rejection of God, who allows innocent children to suffer. He contrasts the “tear of a child” with the future world prosperity and rejects the harmony achieved at such a price. The expression “a child’s tear” has become a catchphrase and is often used to illustrate the problem: is the end worth the cost? F.M. Dostoevsky was sure that no lofty goal “is worth... the tears of even one tortured child...”
But the idea of the classic of Russian literature about the “tear of a child” did not find followers and did not become an axiom. On the contrary, the revolutionary ideas of the early twentieth century were based on the fact that the high goal of “freedom, equality, fraternity” required great sacrifices. For the sake of the revolution, a new life, the communist idea, thousands of crimes were committed. The events of the Civil War, the destruction of the wealthy peasantry, and repressions claimed the lives of millions of people. A monstrous example of achieving a goal at any cost is the history of the Second World War, when in the name of the utopian idea of world domination and the superiority of the Aryan race, Nazi Germany dragged 62 countries into a bloody massacre, resulting in the death of more than a billion people!
The problem of whether the end justifies the means is subject to testing by moral criteria. No crime can be considered outside the law and moral code of man. Religious dogmas, philosophers, sociologists, and writers talk about this. However, events in the modern world again and again demonstrate that the idea, its embodiment, the goal become more important than any means by which this goal can be achieved.
Essay on the topic “Does the end justify the means?” updated: November 23, 2019 by: Scientific Articles.Ru
The statement “the end justifies the means” is quite ambiguous, and, like many other weighty issues, it forces us to engage in deep speculation.
Throughout his life, a person is in constant motion, he always has a goal. For some reason, many people call this “the meaning of life.” Agree, it would be strange to call a good car, house, business, and other material things the meaning of existence. And in each of us, when trying to achieve what we want, the question arises about the means necessary in this difficult path.
Should you always give yourself completely to your dreams and aspirations? Man, as has already been said, is in perpetual motion, and, at the same time, man is constantly growing and developing. Those goals for which just yesterday we were ready to go over our heads and sacrifice everything, today already seem like something ridiculous and childish. It's unclear why we were so stupid?
The work of F.M. comes to mind. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", where the main character, Rodion Raskolnikov, comes to the idea that through evil actions, crimes, one can come to the truth of virtue and universal happiness. That is, according to the hero, in pursuit of something noble, one can commit evil acts, any means are justified.
Raskolnikov's absurd theory was that there are only two types of people in the world: worthy and unworthy. And if you destroy the unworthy, then you can create that same ideal world of harmony and happiness. But, as we know, the murder brings into Rodion’s head the realization that his ideas are inhumane, and with his actions he crossed a certain line, and found himself on a par with such notorious scoundrels as Svidrigailov. Svidrigailov is a vile, dishonest person, he does not disdain any means to achieve his goals. Soon he commits suicide, Raskolnikov repents of his sins, and the reader understands that goals do not always justify the means of achieving them.
As another example, we can also recall the novel by N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". The main character of the work, Chichikov, wants to achieve wealth and high status in society. To achieve his goal, Chichikov buys “dead souls” from the landowners, after which he receives a large loan against them. The hero resorts to various means, but never stoops to things that disgust him. He doesn't act like the smug nobles he approaches with his deal. We don’t know how the novel ended, the second part disappeared forever in the fire, but we still want to hope that Chichikov was able to achieve his goal. In this case, we see that the hero’s goal justifies the investment.
Everyone has dreams, aspirations, and each of us strives to fulfill them. But at some point, it’s worth stopping and asking yourself: “Am I doing everything right? Maybe we should give up on realizing our goals if they require such sacrifices?” If every person asked themselves such simple questions, then perhaps the world would become a little less bad that surrounds us.
Essay No. 2
Common statements, opinions and expressions are, as a rule, only fragments of something original and genuine. Of course, people often learn what is simplest and most understandable, and not everyone has a more or less exalted nature. Therefore, many people tend to assimilate and broadcast the simplest things almost thoughtlessly.
For example, there is a saying: the end justifies the means. Its essence is to be able to justify any actions with a specific purpose.
For example, in order to build magnificent railways on Russian territory, you need to spend a certain number of human lives, dooming many people to suffering and death in terrible conditions. Although what is human life in comparison with the satisfied face of a worker who, devouring chicken with boiled eggs, goes on vacation to Anapa along this road. After all, you need to fight for human happiness, and such an opportunity to travel along this road on vacation for a worker is happiness, so why shouldn’t other workers and prisoners fertilize the earth for his sake, for his opportunity to flirt with conductors and enjoy cold beer in a classic train cup holder?
The end justifies the means.. In fact, this statement often has a continuation and is written as: the end justifies the means, if the goal is the salvation of the soul.
This expression takes on religious connotations, but there is also room for different interpretations. For example, it is the faint-hearted people who will be happy to use it to actually save their own bodies and similar values. Probably, those who really care about saving the soul will perceive this expression more deeply and understand by means, for the most part, various ways of working on oneself and purifying the very soul that is supposed to be saved.
The phrase is often prescribed to the Jesuits, but from the authors of this community there are only slightly different phrases about determining the means depending on the goal. It talks about how a positive goal makes all means good and vice versa, that is, we are talking about the internal component of any activity.
Enmity can develop into friendship, but under what conditions? To understand this, it is necessary to consider the concepts of friendship and enmity, as well as how relationships between people are built.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born into an intelligent family in the city of Kyiv. He was a doctor by first education, and worked for some time in his profession and even
