February 13, 2009 Archive

212. “If a goal is worthy, then any means taken to attain it is justifiable.”

The speaker asserts that if a goal is worthy, then any means of attaining that goal is justifiable. In my point of view, this extreme position misses the point. In fact, we need to weigh a goal by taking into consideration both the benefits and costs, or harm. If the goal is really worthwhile and beneficial for both personal and societal interests, we can do our best to achieve it.

However, although some goals are indeed worthy, it does not mean that one can attain them by any means. In the process of attaining these goals, people, such as political leaders and others, should root in their minds that they can do nothing to harm the welfare of other people. That means we cannot do as the adage says “One general achieves renown over the dead bodies of ten thousand soldiers”.

In business, the goal of maximizing profits and minimizing costs and expenses cannot be attained by illegal means or at the expense of social well-being. For example, it is unjustifiable for an enterprise to improve its profitability by releasing poisonous water into rivers.

Although I disagree that any means taken to attain a goal is justifiable, it doesn’t mean that we cannot sacrifice or endure high costs to achieve a goal. Believe it or not, sacrifice or enduring high costs is sometimes the only way to achieve a beneficial goal. It’s just like the proverb says “one cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs”. When we play chess, we know that our final goal is to win the game, therefore, sometimes we need to sacrifice our chessmen to establish a better situation. Since sacrificing a chessman is a high cost during playing, but if the goal is worthy and it can lead to a victory situation, we can sacrifice it, because this means is justifiable. It is the same principle in our life.

For example, during World War II, German bombing destroyed the center of the city of Coventry. On the night of 14-15 November 1940, rather than compromise a decisive source of intelligence, Winston Churchill left the city of Coventry to the mercies of the German Air Force. Winston Churchill and his colleagues had cracked the Enigma code at Bletchley House and knew that Coventry was to be bombed. Winston Churchill said and did nothing because it was too late to start any preparations and if the Nazis knew their Enigma code had been decrypted and changed the encryption method, much more valuable information might have been lost. Churchill knew his goal was to achieve victory and bring the world peace. Therefore, we can forgive his decision to sacrifice the city of Coventry.

In addition, when we try to cut down the level of CO2 to stop global warming, many governments must pay a lot of money and may harm a lot of people’s benefits. But it is surely beneficial for the world, and also for our offspring.

In sum, the speaker begs the question. The worthiness of any goal, whether it is personal or societal, can be determined only by weighing the benefits of achieving the goal against its costs — to us as well as others.