Means and Ends

I loved Ferdinand Lassalle’s quote, “For ends and means on earth are so entangled that changing one you change the other too.” People tend to think of means as justifiable as long as a desirable goal is reached. Cady argues that ends are defined by their means and in that, the products of war would reflect violence.

In the reading “Means and Ends”, Cady explains that one way people have tried to settle the problems of war is with religion. However, spiritual principles differ from religion to religion, and often from sect to sect. I know, within my own church I have seen disagreements between members in their interpretations of the doctrine. So clearly, a common ground cannot always be found and there will be disagreements if this method is used to try and bring peace. It is for that reason that I believe religion is an inappropriate medium for conflict resolution. Furthermore, church and state are to remain separate. It would be unconstitutional for us as Americans to use religion in order to bring about a desired result. If the means used to attain peace are the views of a particular religion, then the ends will surely reflect that.

She wrote about the “just-warist”. What a strange term. She said that a just-warist is a person who argues that the ultimate good of war outweighs the negativity. I would argue that there is no such thing as a just-warist because war is never justifiable. There are pacifists and there are those in support of war. Anything in between is just violence with varying shades gray. She further describes that some just-warists would go as far as to believe that war should be fought even if defeat is certain, because it is better to go down fighting than to surrender. Why should one fight at all if loss is inevitable? Why subject more to violence than necessary? Those thoughts echoed in my mind as I read the chapter. In my opinion such logic has no place in society. By victimizing more people with the brutality of war, we are only creating an undesirable end with an unnecessary mean.