Do The Ends Justify The Means Essay

Air raids over cities populated by non-combatants would be another example of an evil means toward a good end, despite the desperate circumstance of war.In these examples, the punishment is disproportionate to the crime and innocent people are deliberately being used as disposable pawns.

Air raids over cities populated by non-combatants would be another example of an evil means toward a good end, despite the desperate circumstance of war.In these examples, the punishment is disproportionate to the crime and innocent people are deliberately being used as disposable pawns.

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The same action of stabbing someone to death could be murder in one context, but self defense in another.

The same action of engaging in a sexual embrace can be adultery in one context, but a blessed marital act in another.

So, what would be some examples of evil acts that are not justified despite the external circumstance?

One form of evil means would be excessive punishment, as in amputating a hand for the crime of theft, despite its effectiveness in deterring theft.

A curse word toward the sacred is blasphemy, but the same curse word toward evil is not (which the Church did by pronouncing anathemas).

Producing a fake passport is a form of perjury, but producing the same fake passports and baptismal certificates to Jews fleeing the Nazi is not (which the Church did during WWII).When it is willingly accepted by the guilty party, it assumes the value of expiation.Punishment then, in addition to defending public order and protecting people's safety, has a medicinal purpose: as far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.One may not do evil so that good may result from it.So, does it mean it is wrong for a police officer to carry tools of torture such as a baton, pepper spray, taser and firearm?The officer can encounter circumstances where he may need to use those devices that inflict pain and even fatality, but doesn’t the Catechism say that such circumstances still don’t justify the means?How does the Church reconcile Her teaching that the end doesn’t justify the means with Her allowance for self defense and just war?Although under no circumstance can one commit blasphemy, perjury, murder and adultery, it is also a certain context that defines the same actions as something other than blasphemy, perjury, murder and adultery.As illustrated, the evil ‘acts’ as referred to in the Catechism contain an inherent context, while the circumstances that tempt those acts pertain to the external climate.Another would be the punishment of the innocent in addition to or in lieu of the offender.In imperial China, certain crimes such as treason resulted in the death penalty for an entire household, servants included.