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Good vs Evil: a matter of aims or a matter of means?
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<blockquote data-quote="Gez" data-source="post: 1907481" data-attributes="member: 1328"><p>Both are important, but I would say that the means is the most decisive aspect.</p><p></p><p>Let say you want to unify various feuding countries into a great empire. There are several means to that end. You can try tyranny and conquests, this is an evil mean to that end. You can also try to unite them through politics, creating a confederation, persuading petty leaders to join in as a way to insure their own prosperity, etc. (A real world example could be unifying Europe, with Napoléon Bonaparte for the "tyranny & conquest" approach; and, later, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer for the "conciliation and negociation" approach.)</p><p></p><p>Same end, different means, and it's the means that determines morality.</p><p></p><p>Saying "it's not evil to kill evil" is a logical fallacy, one that might bite them in the back later. Once again, what is important is the mean, not the end. Goodness is about respect for life -- which is not the same as preservation of all life, mind you -- and thus forbade gratuitous murders, torture, etc.</p><p></p><p>Killing people with an insta-kill spell, before they can act, can be construed as non-evil in that way -- you do not inflict gratuitous suffering if the foes are dispatched instantly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gez, post: 1907481, member: 1328"] Both are important, but I would say that the means is the most decisive aspect. Let say you want to unify various feuding countries into a great empire. There are several means to that end. You can try tyranny and conquests, this is an evil mean to that end. You can also try to unite them through politics, creating a confederation, persuading petty leaders to join in as a way to insure their own prosperity, etc. (A real world example could be unifying Europe, with Napoléon Bonaparte for the "tyranny & conquest" approach; and, later, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer for the "conciliation and negociation" approach.) Same end, different means, and it's the means that determines morality. Saying "it's not evil to kill evil" is a logical fallacy, one that might bite them in the back later. Once again, what is important is the mean, not the end. Goodness is about respect for life -- which is not the same as preservation of all life, mind you -- and thus forbade gratuitous murders, torture, etc. Killing people with an insta-kill spell, before they can act, can be construed as non-evil in that way -- you do not inflict gratuitous suffering if the foes are dispatched instantly. [/QUOTE]
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