Philosophical Poll: Do Intentions Matter?

[atlasParticipant 285]

Everyone has most likely heard the phrase “the ends justify the means”, suggesting that it doesn’t matter how you achieve the end result as long as that result is considered benevolent.

My question is: regardless of actions or outcomes, are a person’s intentions or motives relevant? If no, why not? If yes, why, and to what extent? Does it merely depend on the situation and context?

“We are on strike, we, the men of the mind. We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. We are on strike against the dogma that the pursuit of one's happiness is evil. We are on strike against the doctrine that life is guilt.”

[SkeptiskParticipant 3679]

I think that the notion “the ends justify the means” would lead to a slippery slope were any means would become acceptable; eg. torture of terrorists. In the US, as I understand it, the death penalty is in law. Now, as I don’t live there, and is currently residing in another civilized country, this blot on the US reputation seems to me to be the end result of this philosophy. Just an example of why philosophy in important, and not just for beardnecked geeks/nerds.

"Expecting to find a decent woman on a dating site is like dumpster diving and expecting to come out with a gourmet meal." Won'tGetFooledAgain

[uchibenkeiParticipant 7965]

the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

i don’t think there’s a yes no answer. sometimes the end justifies the means, sometimes it doesn’t. It does when you’re choosing to make a sacrifice to reach a desired end. it doesn’t when you make someone else pay the price for you to achieve an end and you don’t give that person any choice. If you have to hurt people to achieve your end/goal, it’s wrong.

I bathe in the tears of single moms.

[HitmanParticipant]

if you start with good intentions hopefully your actions will be Noble.
but the end does not justify the means

[The Laughing ManParticipant 1020]

A persons intentions and motives are what drive their decisions and only with context can you decide if the ends justify the means.

Not sure where this is coming from but if you’re concerned with how others will judge your decisions, don’t. It’s subjective and only you can make the call of what’s justifiable and what is not.

I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes...or should I?

[Solo MAN’S WisdomParticipant]

Intentions matter for YOUR character development.

Consider the following:
You are standing at a cash register and the clerk looks away with the cash drawer open. You decide in your mind to reach in an take that $100 in the right hand slot. Just before you move your arm to take it, the clerk turns back to finish the transaction and you do NOT steal the money. In your mind, however, the damage has already been done. Your intention was to steal the $$ and character damage has occurred.

Or: You are in a relations~~~, and give your significant other a gift. Instead of giving the gift for the benefit of the other, however, your intention is giving in order to receive abundant “thank you’s” or to manipulate the other person in some manner. The behavior [gift giving] has no inherent problem, but the motive is selfish [see women’s motives]. Damage is done to YOUR character, as well.

Note that in the first example, the behavior was NOT stealing, but the intention was to steal. In the 2nd example, the behavior was giving a gift, but the intention was for self promotion. The character damage is from the motive or intention.

When women lead, destruction is the destination. -- Me.

[narwhalParticipant]

The question in your subject is slightly different then in the body. I think intentions matter. In that I mean that giving $20 to charity for the sake of the charity is different then giving $20 to charity for a tax right off or recognition. The end result is the same, but the intention makes a big difference.

In regardless to doing something wrong or risky for the hope of a good result, it really just depends. The example that comes to mine is the US nuclear bombing in Japan. The reasoning goes that lives were ultimately saved because a continued war would have cost more lives then dropping the bomb caused. These questions are often based on assumptions on what the results of the different options were. It’s hard to say.

Related to this, I sometimes come across the question regarding the nature of God and why people are even allowed to do bad things. It’s a complex question, but part of the answer I think has to do with idea that no action you can take in itself is bad in it’s nature, what makes it bad is your intention and timing. Take rape for example, something that is universally considered bad. But rape is a combination of sex and violence. Sex certainly is a good thing on many levels, while violence also serves a positive purpose in many circumstances. However, sex and violence, bad intentions and timing, is what makes it bad.

Ok. Then do it.

[Colonel GaveAFuckParticipant 77]

I agree with Solomon, intention is indicative of character where as the ends and means are the objective result and method.

A problem with intentions is they are not easily revealed, people often fake intentions or convince themselves their own intentions are or were otherwise. Hidden or ulterior motives, if you will.

The reality is every situation or circumstance needs calculation, “the ends justify the means” as well as “intention matters most” are blanket statements which are too broad to cover every possible situation.

If someone is trying to kill you but accidentally shoots someone behind you also trying to kill you, would you ignore his intentions or still be wary of the man who simply missed and accidentally saved your life? My guess is he will fire another bullet.

If someone intends to poison your drinking water but accidentally adds powdered multivitamins, in reality they attempted murder, but objective action alone suggests they only increased your exposure to health substances.

I had someone try to insult me but give me a compliment. Try to down me but prove they are an idiot. Luckily, my intention was to remain free of destruction from others at all levels.

The definition of intention is “an aim or a plan”. So just because someone is helping you doesn’t mean their intentions won’t eventually come to fruition. Life is not one event, but a series of events.

Final example. Russia has intention of ruining USA. Russia lends aid to American business with loans, America thrives. Russia concedes zones in contested areas, America increases global presence.
Russia has secretly infiltrated American businesses, knows the new zones will be devastating for American presence, calls back loans and activates foreign cells in contested zones, suddenly America is weakened the businesses stocks and finances plummet and then Russia moves to retake conceded zones.

Intention accounts for what the objective cannot describe. Can’t see intention, but it makes a massive difference.

As far as the ends justify the means, it’s circumstantial as to whether or not the means are justified. Case by case and often which side you are on play heavily.

[Dr. SableParticipant 1064]

atlas wrote:

My question is: regardless of actions or outcomes, are a person’s intentions or motives relevant? If no, why not? If yes, why, and to what extent? Does it merely depend on the situation and context?

There is no simple YES or No answer because you will get bitten on the ass no matter which way you go.
(1) If you act morally and ethically but a hundred people loose their lives because of your decision,
you may be remembered as a good moral person.
(2) If you sacrifice one or two so a hundred may live your morality will be questioned at best or at
worst you will be remembered as a monster.

The best answer I can give you is to make a judgement you can live with and f~~~
what others may think. After all, they were not saddled with a hard decision to make.

Honestly, I get p~~~ed off with those wright or wrong answers.
Philosophers who have posed those same questions never had to put their bodies, souls and reputations
on the f~~~ing line to test their theories. There were no philosophers in the trenches with me.
We have learned from them, but answers are not clear cut and lets not forget as societies change for
better or worse, so do the answers you seek.

Zero Tolerance

[Maraudrz1Participant 2250]

This makes my head hurt.

Women's brains and vagina have one thing in common. There is nothing in there until a man puts something in there.

[Anonymous 54]

My intentions are allways to live my life in an Honorable way.I am not perfect,but i am allways trying.There is usually a price to pay for this,bit at the end of the day i want to sleep with a clear conscious.Others intentions,one never really knows do they.

[Prefer Peace to PieceParticipant 10809]

Intentions matter.

Consider Malice Aforethought from a legal perspective. In criminal cases, intent is very important.

Malice Aforethought
A predetermination to commit an act without legal justification or excuse. A malicious design to
injure. An intent, at the time of a killing, willfully to take the life of a human being, or an intent willfully to act in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to human life; but malice aforethought does not necessarily imply any ill will, spite or hatred towards the individual killed.
West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Miles aheadParticipant 42]

I don’t believe the end always justify the means. Take a simple example like sports for instance. Most would agree that cheating is unacceptable, but if your goal is to win then in certain situations you may see that as your only option. During the world cup in 1986, Maradona scored an infamous goal dubbed “The hand of God” in which he blatantly cheated to score. Despite this, in his mind it did a lot of good for his country.

But I think in some instances sacrifice is necessary. Take war for example. War is horrific, but if not for the actions of Allied Countries during WW2, then Nazi Germany would have been enable to enforce their political agenda. Whilst in my mind war is the worst situation a civilization can experience, I believe it be justified by the end result of peace.

[Anonymous 54]

If my team won by cheating i would not celebrate.If a women planned her husbands murder before hand i would charge her with murder 1. If i have made a mistake i admit it.If the clerk gives me too much change,i give it back.If some one is trying to help me,but they f~~~ it up,i dont get mad.

[OgreParticipant 5863]

Intentions matter at least as much as outcome.

I try to have maximum awareness of the butterfly effect of anything I do, but at some point even your best effort may cause harm.

As far as other people go, you’ll never know anybody’s true intentions other than your own. It’s an interesting philosophical question, but it’s not very useful to answer it because even if you come up with YOUR answer nobody else is obligated to operate from your conclusion.

I failed to realize in my youth that I was the prize. I was going to work. I was going to earn. Little did I realize that due to feminism, that no longer meant I had to share. Road soon, Desert after.

[Tiga KParticipant 1693]

I believe my own motives are important and I will not do something if it is for the wrong reason. As for everyone else’s motives, it is not my business. If what they do benefits me, I will be thankful, even if they assisted me for their own selfish reasons. If someone harms me, I also don’t really care. Maybe the person needed to do whatever that harmed me, but I will not bother judging how worthy their intentions are. It is out of my ability to know. Whatever way I react to their harming me, it is the consequence they should have considered before doing what they did. Every decision has a cost.

[Solo MAN’S WisdomParticipant]

Maraudrz1 wrote:

Women’s brains and vagina have one thing in common. There is nothing in there until a man puts something in there.

Pure f~~~ing gold.

When women lead, destruction is the destination. -- Me.

[mp357Participant 531]

i dont think intentions matter, every single liberal f~~~tard has good intentions.

[Anonymous 12]

You see that all the time with the Left, they violently protest and abuse people verbally and physically, try and ruin people all because they have a different opinion. To them the means justify the end.

Here are the problems that not many people factor in.

1/ Cause and Effect = Most people will just want to live quiet lives and go about their business. They will tolerate a certain amount of s~~~ until it gets so bad that they can no longer ignore or tolerate it. Then you get the backlash, Trump, the Centre Right parties in Europe springing up, the silent majority will eventually stand up to the bully. And when that happens the “Means justify the end” people will be put right back in their place. So it is counter productive.

2/ Power is corrupt. = As these groups become more powerful they want more power, they start to change their rules, their philosophies, as a 42 year old I can tell you that the concept of a Leftie back in the 70’s and 80’s is very different to what it is now. They start to subjugate and turn on their own followers because they become megalomaniacal. We see that happening as well.

So no, the means don’t justify the end. One last simple example, we could just place the population in chains and solve crime except we won’t as the ones doing the chaining up will become the new criminals.

Doesn’t matter what your intentions are, if you don’t implement it properly at some point it will become corrupted.

[Anonymous 1]

What does the ends justify the means even mean?

F~~~ no. It’s just noise for getting away with s~~~ you shouldn’t be getting away with.

Where do u draw the line? Shall I murder my parents to get their inheritance cos the end justifies MY means?

Naa. Not having that.

[Author]

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