ABSTRACT
Does the end justify the means? The question is so familiar that it is essentially a cliché, and people often imply the answer in the way they ask the question. When one considers ethics in terms of duties, as in the previous chapter, there is no concern for the outcomes or the consequences. One following deontological ethics has no hesitation answering the question with an emphatic, “No!” From that perspective, the end can never justify the means-one must do one’s duty and let whatever happens happen. We might say that deontological ethics is input based rather than output based. In this chapter, we will now look at the other side of ethical reasoning, the side that considers the outcomes of actions rather than what motivated them.
