an essay i wrote today as practice for a mba exam.my first essay in about 4 years.
“There is no right way to do a wrong thing.”
The purpose behind anything which we do in life is very important. It is said that the ends justify the means but the converse is not true. That is, if the end or aim of a task is not good then no way or means to do it can ever be correct.
We can not delude ourselves thinking what we are doing is correct if the end which our deeds are leading to is wrong. The aim or purpose behind any work, is thus of supreme importance. We can not justify any act of ours if our intention in doing it is not good. An example is the present US occupation of Iraq. Whatever the US president or its army does now in Iraq is wrong and immoral because the intention behind it is the occupation of Iraq, based as it is on false accusations. There is no way by which we can justify or condone acts such as these.
If the intention with which we set out to do things is good, then whatever happens, with time and handwork, we will eventually achieve success. But if our intentions are wrong we will always face failure in the end. This is proving to be true in the case of the US in Iraq. Acting on false premises, it invaded Iraq, but now finds itself caught in a Vietnam like situation. The example shows us that there is no way a wrong can be defended and no means to do a task are acceptable if the ends which they lead to are wrong. Certainly there is no right way to do a wrong thing.
The purpose behind anything which we do in life is very important. It is said that the ends justify the means but the converse is not true. That is, if the end or aim of a task is not good then no way or means to do it can ever be correct.
We can not delude ourselves thinking what we are doing is correct if the end which our deeds are leading to is wrong. The aim or purpose behind any work, is thus of supreme importance. We can not justify any act of ours if our intention in doing it is not good. An example is the present US occupation of Iraq. Whatever the US president or its army does now in Iraq is wrong and immoral because the intention behind it is the occupation of Iraq, based as it is on false accusations. There is no way by which we can justify or condone acts such as these.
If the intention with which we set out to do things is good, then whatever happens, with time and handwork, we will eventually achieve success. But if our intentions are wrong we will always face failure in the end. This is proving to be true in the case of the US in Iraq. Acting on false premises, it invaded Iraq, but now finds itself caught in a Vietnam like situation. The example shows us that there is no way a wrong can be defended and no means to do a task are acceptable if the ends which they lead to are wrong. Certainly there is no right way to do a wrong thing.
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