Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Qualities Of The Prince'

The End Justifies the Means Niccolò Machiavelli has said, “si guarda al fine,” meaning “one must consider the final result.” The phrase has frequently been mistranslated as “the end justifies the means.” This concept is often defined as an action is deemed acceptable if the outcome is good. The moral philosophy of consequentialism relates to this phrase because it all depends on the outcome. For instance, if the outcome is good then the act should be considered good. Even though obstacles may occur when unworthy means are used to achieve worthy ends, the ethicality of an action is dictated by objective and consequence. The common expression, “by any means necessary” indicates that there are no limits as to how you get the job done. Since

You can be feared, do things considered to be unethical and still accomplish morally right ends. For instance, Machiavelli states, “Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; nonetheless, his cruelty had brought order to Romagna, united it, restored it to peace and obedience” (227). Some people might contend that it is better to be loved, but achieving morally right ends doesn’t always mean that you have use morally right means. A good example of this is when he talks about Scipio and says, “[his] armies in Spain rebelled against him; this came from nothing other than his excessive compassion, which gave to his soldiers more liberty than military discipline allowed…all because of his tolerant nature”

He argues that a leader should do what he needs to do in order to successfully maintain his state of power. According to Machiavelli, “One sees from the experience of our times that the princes who have accomplished great deeds are those who have cared little for keeping their promises and who have known how to manipulate the minds of men by shrewdness; and in the end they have surpassed those who laid their foundations upon honesty” (229). This is another example of how the end justifies the means in order to achieve prosperity.

The saying “the end justifies the means” goes together with consequentialism because the morality of the action is decided by its consequences. A famous example of this would be if you had to kill an innocent person, you’d also be saving the lives of 10 other innocent people. Someone who doesn’t believe in consequentialism would