The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

The famous saying, "The ends justify the means," is a highly loose concept that can be interpreted in many ways. One particularly debatable way to think about the concept is if beneficial ends are justified by immoral means. The famous 15th century philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli embraced the idea that as long as the ends are beneficial, it does not matter how you get there. My stance on the concept supports Machiavelli's theory, but it defiantly has some limitations driven by real life situations. I have concluded that the benefits reached by immoral actions must be for the greater good. In addition to this, I believe immoral actions should only be used on a defensive standpoint. Many immoral actions can help the greater good, but if the actions are not being used in a defensive manner, the intentions of the final goal never outweigh the action. In other words, the immorality of the action will not condone the goal.

The first factor I have to address that supports my belief is through public safety. A very immoral thing to do is to torture someone; however, at times this can be very productive. For example, information is needed from a terrorist on the location of a bomb that will kill many people, and unfortunately, he will not willingly tell you where it is. However, you can immorally torture the information out of the terrorist and save countless innocent people. In essence, it is an end for the greater good that was reached immorally, and the decision was made to defend many people. However, one may argue that in some situations, a person could be innocent and wrongly tortured. It is a very inconvenient truth on the matter, but if there is probable cause to believe someone is guilty, it is worth the chance to torture to save countless other people. Machiavelli expresses throughout The Prince that a leader's actions should attempt to benefit the state at all costs. Saving many citizens would be in the state's interest, and that one tortured person would be of lesser importance.

Another more relatable example of public safety that was provided by immoral actions occurred in World War II. When President Truman dropped the atomic bomb on Japan he ended the war and saved many American lives that would have died in a land invasion. The negative side of this action is that he killed many Japanese people. Killing vast amounts of Japanese citizens is no doubt immoral, but if you look at the positive of our own soldiers being alive it has an end for the greater good. Also, we were placed on the defensive when Japan forced us into a war. I would have deemed this action unsuitable if we wanted to conquer Japan, but our intention of the atomic bomb was to save our own soldiers lives. On the opposite side, it would be perfectly acceptable if Japan used the atomic bomb against us. We were an aggressor on their land and they could have used it to protect themselves if they had the technology. It is the duty of a leader to protect one's own before all others according to Machiavelli.

My final factor, which supports my thesis, is different from the first two. It shows why immoral means for beneficial ends can be bad if used in an offensive manner. The Watergate incident is well known throughout American history in that our president unjustly withheld information from the public, so that he could personally benefit. In the incident, President Nixon had people break into the Watergate Building to steal information that would help him win reelection. As a result, he lost the respect and trust of the nation. Nixon was on the offensive because he wanted to steal information. Therefore, he had no legitimate cause to try and do this other than for his own person gain. Overall, he violated my two restrictions when committing immoral acts, and history has proved the majority of people were not happy with his choices. His offensive and personal, immoral act was not condoned by the majority of people.

In conclusion, immoral means do justify beneficial ends under two circumstances. First of all, the immoral act must be used in a defensive manner, and secondly, the act must be done to benefit the greater good. If either of these restrictions are breached, it is not just to commit an immoral act.

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2009 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli